Free Falling
by VerelLupin
Summary: *Spoilers for the movie...you've been warned* He had already fallen when she met him. She was terrified of heights but what else could she do but jump to catch up. Ariadne/Dominic
1. Chapter 1

**I love this movie and in fact hope to see it several more times. **

**As for the whole A/A thing...I just don't get it. A kiss does not chemistry make. Anyway I suspect its because they are close to the same height and both look like toddlers.**

**I have a weird theory and want to share it with my fellow Inceptioners. What if the whole spinning top thing was the idea. (I mean they say in the beginning that an idea is like a virus. They mentioned his tome over and over as well as the spinning. So what if the implanted idea was that the spinning was what made it the dream but in reality it was the stopping that made it a dream) Feel free to ignore that but that's what I kept seeing.**

**Anyhoo, enjoy!**

* * *

This was difficult for her because it was difficult for him.

It was private and painful and pointless and she wished she had never seen it but then she wouldn't know how to help him. This unfortunately, was necessary. He needed to do this; she needed him to do this. He had to let go and she had to watch him suffer.

Ariadne looked on as Dom sat in the life he had lived; in the house he had created and cradled the last projection of Mal.

Only snippets of conversation were audible but Dom's last reason for leaving was magnified as if Mal needed others to hear it, to verify it. "I can't, I have to go back to our real children." Ariadne's heart broke and tears pooled in his eyes, giving them the same rawness of the waves that had brought them here to this.

_'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien...'_ floated lightly around them. It boomed and flashed in the lightning and rose on the waves that crashed against the buildings, eating them away.

"Dom!" she yelled and he looked up from Mal's tear coated face, his fingers still threaded through her soft hair.

He saw the winds coming closer and he marveled at the architect's calm in the storm. He used to be like that, before the inception, before he lost the ability to dream.

She reached down and feeling Fischer's neck for a pulse, to be absolutely sure that it has to be this way, Ariadne pushed him over the side and towards the next layer.

"What are you doing?" he yelled.

"Improvising," she yelled back.

"I regret nothing." Mal sung gripping his arm one last time then letting him go. He swallowed the sob, wanting nothing more than to stay but his time was up, he had just needed to let Mal out of his prison. Ariadne had been right, he couldn't keep her there forever and he no longer felt the need to.

Ariadne was still standing there on the very edge of the porch. Her brown hair whipping around her face, it's shade so similar to Mal's dark one. Her heart shaped face was still young and untried, much like Mal's had been when they had first designed their home.

She struck out her hand reaching out to him but he saw Mal's hand reaching for his on the train track, where they waited for the train that would take them home.

She kept her hand out; her fingers curled only slightly letting him know it was his choice to move on, it was his choice to save himself.

The tracks disappeared and her face became less sad and her hair lightened, she wasn't Mal lying down beside him, she was Ariadne, standing at the threshold of a new beginning. She smiled at him, the same smile she'd given him when the city had folded in on itself. "Get Saito and come back."

She leaned back and let go, free falling until her body was obscured by the destruction around him.

_'I'm afraid of heights.'_ She had once told him.

She fell past the building and into the snowy floor and through the explosion that pushed her into the elevator and shoved her into the floor as the cables snapped and hit the bottom forcing her into the water soaked van.

Arthur appeared with an oxygen mask and she took it gratefully. He moved away from her and to Yusuf.

They propped open the van doors and only when Arthur tugged her did she release Cobb's hand. Something she didn't recall doing, it floated down and his serene face was the last thing she saw as the water forced her burning eyes closed.

She was pulled to the shore but it wasn't Arthur she pictured but Dom coming to her, rescuing her from the icy water as they struggled into his world.

She swallowed a lungful of water and woke up on the plane rapidly approaching L.A.X. Arthur and the others gathered the equipment and set about making it look like less of a team and more like a group of strangers, but her eyes remain riveted on the man across from her.

Dom was still sleeping, he was still trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Can I say, how proud I am to be part of this fandom. So many awesome writers and even more awesome stories.**

**I humbly add my second part! Let the Ariadne/Dominic love fest continue!**

**In case you haven't noticed I like using his full name but I will use Dom or Cobb. (I know, I'm odd)  
**

* * *

_"Are phobias an issue?" she asked staring intently at the board he was currently writing on._

_"It can be if they occupy your mind and you project them in, why?"_

_"I'm afraid of heights." The moment the words escaped her mouth she wanted to take them back, an uncharacteristic smirk appeared on Dom's handsome face, his mouth twitching in an attempt to hold the laugh in._

_She would have expected that reaction from Arthur, hell probably from Eames also but never from Cobb. He always was more understanding. More likely to remain quiet and patiently waiting until she unraveled whatever dilemma she was having as opposed to Arthur who would just tease her until she caved and threatened him with bodily harm._

_She then would thank Cobb and he'd nod in that silent serious way of his and she'd feel so much better for spilling her guts._

_In the short time she had worked with Dominic, as she called him in her own secret dreams, Ariadne had come to trust him and depend on his knowledge not only as a former architect but as a man who actually valued what she had in her brain and not in her pants. His opinion had become indispensable to her and the countless nights spent hunched over their mazes had forged a bond between them that transcended his past and her age._

_The idea of him laughing at her or him thinking she was anything but a independent, mature and self-assured woman, hurt. "Forget it. I'll see you in the morning." Ariadne got up with every intent to leave him to his own devices and come back early in the morning without a care in the world._

_However as she walked off, her anger gave way to worry about leaving him with no one but Mal to keep him company and that was unacceptable. Ariadne knew very well that her concern was really just her longing for him. It was true that Ari had never been one of those women that pined away for a man or his attention but something about that lost look of his pulled at her heartstrings making it easy to forget her no-getting-involved-with-colleagues-rule._

_She wanted to be there for him because she was the only one he hadn't been able to lie to. Her desire to stay close did get tempered by her current displeasure with him so she settled for the next best thing._

_Which ended up with her being at the other end of the warehouse as far away from him as possible while still being able to stay in the same building. The irony was that she apparently didn't want to really escape him since she ended up on his makeshift cot, where he spent more than half his time, it consisted of the lawn chair she had used the first time they had shared a dream and a dark blue blanket._

_Lying in it was intimate enough as if was, given that he had been her first and that he was currently sleeping in it every night, it was made more so by the fact that for the last few days they have been left alone. _

_Ariadne tucked herself more cozily into it, shifting the sport coat draped across the back of the chair instead of moving it off all together because as silly as it sounded she liked being surrounded by his scent plus she needed a pillow. She must have sat in the lawn chair that served as his bed for what seemed like hours, the discarded blanket bunched on her lap to give her a better platform. _

_She was trying to lose herself in her sketchbooks; drawing furiously, rearranging the different layers._

_All to pretend that her heart wasn't beating violently against her rib cage as the sound of his footsteps carried to her small place, getting louder the closer he got. It was the very fact that he had followed and willing sought her out that was her undoing. She had ceased drawing the moment his shoes had come into her view but it didn't stop him from pressing his hand down on hers, gently sandwiching it between the paper and his hand like a pressed flower between the pages of an old book._

_Ariadne forcibly removed her gaze from their hands only to send it skittering up to his electric blue one. She couldn't hide the current that jolted and grew through their prolonged skin contact nor the surprise that his eyes had flashed with recognition of what she had felt._

_"Ariadne, I would never…" he looked troubled, his emotions actually out in the open for her to see, and he __obviously hadn't meant to hurt her feelings.  
_

_He removed his hand and sat at the very edge of the chair; absentmindedly rubbing at the charcoal stains her hand had transferred from her sketches to him. Dom folded his tall frame to fit into the small space she had left. _

_If she hadn't been so weirded out, she would have sworn he was nervous._

_She looked down giving them the split second of privacy that was needed to get themselves back together, it was then that she realized that her feet were almost in his lap and hastily rearranged herself._

_After several moments of silence, he cleared his throat, "...I wasn't making fun of you. It just struck me as funny that given what we are attempting to do, which is something nobody has ever been able to do and the fact that we all just met and have no idea what we are all capable of. Being afraid of heights would be the least of your problems."_

_"I can't control it that scares me. I know it doesn't make a lick of sense but there it is," she remarked sounding petulant even to her own ears._

_"Being the architect doesn't guarantee control, it's all an illusion," he said it softly as if reminding himself more than cautioning her. "Besides, fears are never rational."_

_His tone compelled her to risk this rare insight into him. She leaned closer to him, "are you afraid of anything?"_

_He instantly shuttered his feelings, his voice going flat, "failing. That's what we should all fear."_

_The warmth of the moment was gone so quickly that she wondered if she had dreamt the connection. She almost reached for the totem in her pocket just to verify that this was in fact reality. He got up abruptly signaling that it was the end of this particular discussion. "I built the bridge as a reminder that my fear can only control me if I let it," she burst out._

_He paused, "I'll remember that."_

_She scooted back against the chair dropping heavily onto his coat. Her fingers twisted and twirled her totem over and over, letting the smooth cool weight soothe her until her head lolled to her left._

_"Hey." Her head shot up and he walked back just far enough to be in her sight. Dom regarded her thoughtfully and to her embarrassment Ariadne became aware of the fact that he had noticed that she was using his coat as a pillow. The corner of his mouth lifted, "keep the heights to a minimum."_

_"You worried about me?"_

_"I don't really like them either," he replied and disappeared from view. She might have imagined it but his steps sounded lighter. They grew fainter and fainter until they completely disappeared._

"Ari, wake up. Ari." The voice sounded urgent, she rose groggily. She shifted to the left coming face to face with the point man; over his shoulder she saw the still body of the slumbering Cobb. That brought her fully alert.

"No change, Saito is out as well." Arthur reported.

Earlier when she had woken up and seen Dom still asleep she had been tempted to tell Arthur to put her under again. Arthur for all intents and purposes was more observant than anybody gave him credit for and he just shook his head at her before she could utter a single word.

Arthur had soon left her and Ariadne had no other choice but to glance out the window. She couldn't bear to see him like that, they were close and soon Dom's future would be sealed.

**'He might just have been lost and I abandoned him there. I should have stayed.'**

The dream that she'd just been woken from had been a memory, she had no clue as to why that particular memory had chosen to resurface now. She was tempted to confide in Arthur but he was so busy putting away all the cords and machine parts that were not being occupied that she didn't have the heart to break him out of his self-imposed tasks.

Clearly the team was busy dealing with the possibility of Cobb not coming back in their own way.

Eames was staring sightlessly at a magazine. His hands flipped the pages but his eyes weren't following the print. Yusuf was lifting and weighing the left over vials in his left hand while shaking the watch on his right ascertaining himself that it was indeed running. Mind wondering she pondered what she would do in case he never woke. As the seconds turned to minutes and her anxiety grew Ariadne made a call.

The plane was getting closer and soon the seat belt lights would turn on and they would begin their descent.

Ariadne thought back to the dream, she could only recall that part of the night. What had happened prior to their conversation was a blank to her.

She did remember the morning after or at least the exact moment when she had woken to find the blanket entangled around her with not recollection of how it had come to be there. Her lucidity had been mild at best but she could have sworn there had been a second chair almost parallel to her own but sleep had reclaimed her before she could investigate further.

By the time she was actually up and ready for the day, she had noticed that there was only her chair. At first she had chalked it up to her being tired and imagining things especially when it had been confirmed by Arthur that the only one he had seen was the one she had been sleeping in.

But now in light of everything, she was sure that the second chair had existed. That Dominic Cobb had slept beside her all night, guarding her. It was decided that whatever else happened, the architect would care for the extractor, whether he was awake or asleep.

"If he doesn't wake-" Arthur whispered.

"He will wake. He still has time."

"But if he doesn't we can't be seen with him. He will still be wanted. The machine has to be protected." Arthur explained.

"I'll deal with that if and when that happens," she assured him.

"There is a contingency plan, sweetheart." Eames said lifting his eyes off the magazine.

"No, Eames. She can't. Cobb wouldn't want that. He said not to." Arthur hissed but it was too late, the Architect's eyes were wide open.

"Tell me."

"She can't do this alone, Eames. She can't." Arthur wailed loosing his usual unflappable attitude.

"She won't, don't worry darling. I will go along for the ride." Eames said it to Arthur but he was facing Ariadne. "Saito has other tickets for Mr. Cobb and Co. to use should things not go according to plan. It was as a precaution for himself as well. So we would have to take both, I'm afraid."

Eames produced the tickets and handed two to Ariadne. Both tickets came with forged papers and their destination was Paris.

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are approaching Los Angeles International Airport. Please be sure to put your trays in their utmost position and fasten your seat belts. We will be landing shortly, the weather is a cool 82 degrees and we hope you have enjoyed your time here with us on Air Sydney."_

"He has to return, if he doesn't I'll go in after him."


	3. Chapter 3

**I just got back from watching this amazing movie again. I have so many plans. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The plane made its final circle and stopped on the tarmac. The team looked uneasily at each other, this was it. Time was up.

Eames unbuckled his seat belt and disappeared behind the curtain.

Yusuf moped his face, exhaustion written plainly on it but he took his belongings and waited until Fischer was looking the other way before taking Arthur's attaché case and quickly walking down the stairs and onto the private airfield.

Arthur shot out of his seat and leaned down next to her, "remember when we disembark they'll try to call the paramedics. Eames goes with Saito and you and I go with Cobb. We have a six-minute window between when I get off and when the flight crew starts to unload."

Ariadne nodded and gathered Dom's small bag and shoved it in her large one. "Don't linger and try to look distraught." Arthur catching her haunted look shook his head, "scratch that last one."

Ariadne waited perched on the edge of her seat, her leg bouncing up and down nervously as she waited for her cue. The point man was standing by the curtain ready to signal when the flight attendant would come back to her post.

Fischer had been ruffling through his bags and had missed what had been happening around him, she almost felt sorry for the poor man, after what they had just done to him now he was going to be her cover as well.

Arthur turned and she rose out of her seat and stood next to Cobb. "James, James, wake up were here. James!" she called more loudly garnering Fischer's attention.

"Is something the matter?" he said leaning over and looking between her and Cobb.

"It's my brother. He won't wake up. Please call an ambulance."

"Let me get the flight attendant, she can call ahead…"

"Oh, no. Just help me get him up. I can handle him from there, please. I…can't…"she hiccupped choking back a sob. "Please."

Seeing her distress Fischer got up and helped her pull Cobb out of his seat. It took both of them to hold up the much heavier frame of the sleeping man.

Dom in no way was unfit but his 6'3 body was dead weight. It bowed Ariadne and Fischer struggled to keep from tumbling down the stairs. The bribed flight attendant got on her phone to give them their six-minute block.

Eames appeared at the top of the ramp but whatever he said went unheard as the door of the airport opened unleashing a flood of airport security on them. Fischer immediately stepped away and Ariadne and Dom crumpled to the floor.

"That's the guy and that's them." Yusuf said loudly pointing to the dumbstruck crew.

The cops swarmed around them and several guns drawn forced Eames down the stairs and out the plane. Others ran up the stairs presumably to apprehend whoever was left. Ariadne watched in disbelief as Yusuf walked off with the dream machine and all its components.

"Sir, there's another here, he looks kinda young and he says he doesn't know these guys but he matches the description." One of the officers shouted down.

"Bring him out too, there should be one other guy. An older one."

Two more cops came down the stair carrying the sleeping Saito between them. "We couldn't wake this one up, sir."

The last cop came out with Arthur in tow. The younger man struggled, "I told you, I don't know any of these people. If you just would let me show you my identification. You are making a big mistake."

"After all we've been to each other, Artie boy. I'm hurt." Eames muttered sniffing loudly.

"Shut up, Eames."

"Alright you two, that's enough." One of the cops said leading both men away.

"Miss, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to let him go and come with us."

Ariadne looked up, this one seemed nice but he was attempting to separate her from Dominic. If she allowed that she'd never see him again. "No, I have to stay with him. I can't leave him again."

"I'm sorry but I insist." He signaled two other men and they attempted to lift Dom off the ground but she just wrapped herself tighter around him. She was not going let him be taken, not without a fight.

"No, no. You can't take him." She fought them kicking and punching anybody who tried to pry him away from her.

"Dammit, hold her before she hurts herself." The guy shouted getting a scratch on the face for his trouble. He picked up Ariadne managing to yank her off her companion. "Take him inside."

"No, don't leave me. Come back," she screamed.

The man grabbed her by the shoulders shaking her like a rag doll, "it will fine. You'll get him back now snap out of it."

Her eyes opened, slowly revealing a relieved Eames. "About time. I was worried I was going to have add you to the list of people I got to carry," he joked. The smile faded from her face. "Sorry sweetheart, my mouth gets away from me sometimes."

"Do we have a plan for how were gonna carry them out?" Arthur interrupted.

"We've been running through some ideas but we have to make sure Fischer is out as well as Yusuf. I'll give him the machine so if any of us are caught it won't be comprised."

She shuddered remembering her dream and how Yusuf had betrayed them, taking the suitcase and leaving them to take the fall. How she was pulled away from Dom, leaving him to the mercy of the police while she could do nothing but scream.

Arthur had been watching her the last half hour and what he was seeing him scared him. She was too emotionally involved and he knew how dangerous that could be. He had not missed the "him" she had shouted and from the way Eames was eyeballing her, neither did he.

He was seriously beginning to wonder just how good of an idea it would be for her to go after Dom. After all if he knew his former partner, he doubted Ariadne could pull Cobb out of his mind if he'd really gotten lost.

This whole plan was ludicrous; perhaps it would be better to let the authorities take Dom. With him practically in a comma, the cops wouldn't take him to prison. He wouldn't see his kids again but even if they succeeded there was no guarantee that she could pull him out without being sucked in.

He'd known Mal and she had been a very strong woman but she had been no match for Dom and he worried that Ariadne, as strong as he knew she was, wouldn't be either. Already it was taking a toll on her.

She was trying to hard to mask it but he could see how her eyes frantically roamed over Dom as if she didn't keep watching him, he'd disappear.

He sighed as the tarmac came into view. Well this was it. Either they made it or they didn't.

She could feel Arthur's pitying gaze on her back and she was very aware that both men had been hovering over her while she slept. She wanted to feel embarrassed for her lack of control, as normally she would have hidden any kind of emotion.

Growing up alone had taught her how vulnerable one could be if you let people see your feelings but at this moment everything that she had ever learned about self-preservation was shot out the door.

That dream had scared her. Its message had been so simple and yet terrifying. She would be lost without Dom but the feeling was most likely not mutual. He had gotten under her skin in such a way that she could truly understand the madness that had driven Mal to take her life.

She was jolted out of her ruminations by the plane hitting the ground. Its bouncing grew less and less until they were coasting and the seat belt light turned off.

Her co-conspirators had left their seats like bats out of hell, leaving her alone. She wondered briefly where they were, Eames was no doubt looking into how they would transport two unconscious men without any questions, Yusuf had disappeared behind the curtain while talking quietly to Arthur, who waved in Saito and Dominic's general direction then stepped out of view.

Without any eyes to judge her, Ariadne did what she had wanted to do the moment she'd come out of limbo. She hurriedly undid her restraint and dropped at Cobb's side. Fischer was on a phone call and kept his gaze out of the window.

She whispered quietly and furiously, "Dominic. You didn't keep your promise. You said you wouldn't get lost but you did. You let her win, you'll never see your kid's faces and I'll never get to talk to you again. I'll never get to tell you how much…that you…ugh. You ruined me and I can't hate you and I… that's what you do to me. You jumble me until I don't know which way to fall."

It was cathartic to speak to a man lost inside his mind and though the swish of the curtain indicated that one of the guys had returned she didn't let it deter her.

These could be the last precious moments she might have with him. Appearances be damned and with that thought in mind, she leaned down and kiss him. It was a short and chaste kiss and yet she knew that the sensation of her lips pressed against his unresponsive ones would forever be burned in her mind.

"Hmmm…it's time to go, darling."

Ariadne moved away from Cobb letting her hand slide over his hair and down his face, allowing it to rest on his jaw for a split second.

"Did we land?"

Time came to a stand still, his crew frozen in that block of time as the extractor pulled the tubing from his hand and stretched like a cat in the seat. Ariadne stumbled backwards tripping and falling into Saito who was waking up as well.

"What?"

"Oh, God. You came back. You came back." She shouted and threw herself on the surprised man.

"Um…yeah…are you ok?" he asked gently pushing her off him.

She snapped back into reality, stumbling backwards a second time. "You…its been so long and we thought…you didn't wake and-"

"What she means is, we were trying to figure out a way to get your ass off that seat and onto a plane and away from the friendly customs agent. You cut it pretty close." Arthur finished.

Apparently the explanation was enough to get Ariadne time to compose herself and she gave Dom a tight smile. He wondered what her reaction and that hug had been about. He looked at her again but she had her back to him rummaging through her bag like her life depended on it.

"Here, here's you stuff." Completely devoid of the enthusiasm she had just displayed, Ariadne pulled out his small bag from her own and handed it to him by the tips of the straps, as if he was gonna bite if she got to close.

'**Very strange, what the hell did I miss?'**

For now they had to disembark and pretend they didn't know each other. He did glance back at Saito, who held up his phone as a thank you.

L.A.X. terminal was busy and loud. Everywhere she looked there were people shouting to each other from behind metal gates and ropes. Lines of bored-looking passengers awaiting their turn at the ticket counter or searching for their passports while customs agent, equally bored-looking, welcomed them to the States.

She was amused how the others had parted ways as soon as they stepped out of the plane tunnel. She had seen Eames waiting idly by the ticket counters talking to some airport bimbo, no doubt getting her number for when she was off.

Yusuf was at one of the cafes nonchalantly reading a book while Saito struck up a conversation with Fischer Jr., the young businessman took a card from Saito and nodded back politely.

Arthur stood by the luggage carousel waiting and regarding each piece of luggage as it passed by his watchful eyes. At this point Dom had reached the end of the counter and he was nervously fiddling with his passport.

The agent called next and time froze yet again as one by one, five sets of eyes settled on their former colleague. Dom handed it to the man and after the briefest moment the man returned it and said, "Welcome back."

The team drew a collectible sigh of relief.

Dom took the passport, lifted his bag and walked out into the sea of families awaiting their loved ones. Miles separated from the crowd and strode up, a grin stretching from ear to ear as he hugged the younger man. Dom adjusted his bag looked back once more at the lot of them and left.

Miles hadn't even given her a chance to say goodbye before ushering him out of the airport and out her life. This was for the best. He had his children and if she was honest with herself, they had nothing but the con in common. There would be nothing to build upon. He'd already done that with Mal.

Her happy mood deflated, she too went to gather her meager bag and get on with her life.

"Well, you gonna go talk to him?"

"Nope, he's doesn't need me." She replied.

"So that's it?"

"Uh huh. Have a nice life, Artie boy."

He grimaced and she too left the airport. She stood at the curb unsure of where to go first. It'd been a very long time since she'd been in the states. She was tempted to call on Miles but he was probably gonna be busy reacquainting Dominic with his children.

"Ok, I'm a modern woman who can take on anything. I don't need anybody."

"Is that so? That's a shame."

"What?" she asked confused and surprised to see him so soon and so close.

"That's a shame. That you don't need anybody." He clarified.

'**Was he flirting with me. What the hell?' There's no way that this could be happening in real life,' **she thought and immediately reached into her coat pocket for her bishop.

"May I?" he asked indicating her hand in her coat pocket.

"I can't, it won't work if you touch it." She said and for some reason it made her want to cry. She wanted to share every aspect of herself with him and not be afraid he was going to hurt her.

Dominic reached into his own pocket and held out his hand, the precious tome held out to her. "It's because of you that I'm not afraid."

Ariadne pulled hers out hesitantly placed it on his palm. **'I'm not Mal, Dom. I'll never be. Don't do me an injustice and compare.'** Both tomes clinked against each other, perfectly matched in weight.

An intense expression of joy spread over his face as he rolled them over and over, enjoying the clinking sound. He looked so adorable, so content.

"How-"

"I told you to keep the heights to a minimum," he grinned and taking advantage of her shock he pocketed both tomes and clasped her hands.

**'****Why is he was holding my hands like if we were the best of friends. Like if he hadn't just scared the hell of out of me with that shit he pulled earlier of sleeping until the last minute.' **

She stared at him dumbfounded.

**'****He had just ignored us all. He didn't even have the decency to at least wave or shake his head or something; I don't care if it was part the plan.' **She was tempted to snatch back her hands and ask him who the hell he thought he was? Who the hell did he think she was?** He could have at least said goodbye to me.'**

"Are you ok? You look upset."

He seemed genuinely concerned but he was not going to play big brother with her. That was not how she wanted him to see her and she'd be damned if she'd allow it. It didn't matter how cute he looked when he smiled.

"I was terrified, you left me no choice."

"It wasn't real," he muttered hugging her to him.  
**  
'God, Dom. What are you doing? Why are you toying with me?'** "That's been the scary part. I didn't want it to be over, even when it was crashing around us. I didn't want to leave because then you'd be gone and I'd have no reason to…no reason at all."

She looked down and he lifted her chin with his finger, "I'm sure I could manage to find another job but I'd need a really good architect, know any?"

She hugged him tighter burying her face against his shirt and he laughed, it rumbled down his chest and through her. "I don't think heights will ever bother me as much."

He looked down at her and she raised herself on tip toe, brushing her lips against his.

"You did fall," he replied tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"No, I jumped. It was a choice."


	4. Chapter 4

**I was going to leave it at chapter 3 but this bunny bit me hard. (I have the bruises to prove it)**

**Anyway more A/D can never be bad.**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

"You returned to help me remember a promise, I am ready."

The gunshot reverberated in the magnificent chamber.

Saito slumped onto the table a smile on his old face. Once the businessman had disappeared Dom had kept the gun pointed at Saito's men. He pushed his chair back, inching along the back wall and towards the doors.

"Guys, it's a leap of faith." He said holding the gun to his own head.

He pulled the trigger but two of the men that he had not seen came up behind him, knocking the gun and the shot wide.

Cobb scrambled for the gun gripping the handle of it just as one of the men stomped on his hand breaking all the bones in it. Distracted by the pain the men were able to haul him up, slamming him onto the table a few times until his breath hitched in response to the surely broken ribs.

Another more savage blow to the face broke his nose making blood gush down his front, meeting and joining with blood running from the gash on his head and obscuring his sight. He was shoved into his soup until his lips were literally curled over his teeth and they hit the side of the bowl.

Dom choked as the once nourishing meal climbed into his mouth blocking his only remaining airway.

He continued to struggle and his whole body was held down shoving his face deeper into the bowl as his fingernails scrapped on the polished table. Deep down somewhere he knew he had to die to get out but instinct kept him scrabbling to gain some sort of leverage against his captors until they had enough of his fighting and snapped his neck.

The first thing he saw was the blinding whiteness of what he thought was snow. His eyes focused and he could make out lines and knobs.

More came into view and he realized that one was blinking and telling him that he could in fact unfasten his seat belt. He gripped the armrest hard until he could feel the cold reassuring metal bite into his hand and he twisted his neck back in forth, glad that it was not broken.

Dom heard his team waking up all around him. All the events of the last ten hours flashed through his mind. **'They made it out, all of them had made it out.'**

He lingered on each of them, Arthur smiling at him without an ounce of his usual cockiness in tow. Eames nodding in approval, Yusuf finally relaxed in his seat and Fischer, who looked deep in thought. Ariadne stretching and curling away from him and Saito, the man he had endangered everyone else for.

Saito stopped dialing long enough to offer his gratitude and Cobb shook his head indicating that the call was more than enough thanks.

He continued his sweep of the cabin enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done and yet Dom couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. There was something missing. There was something he had to do, someone he had to talk to. He opened his mouth to speak to Arthur.

"Something the matter, Dom?"

The way they were seated forced him to look past Ariadne to speak to the man that knew him the best, it was as he turned that he looked at her, really looked at her.

Saito, who had woken when the plane hit the tarmac had finished his call and was still adjusting to being back in the real world, was the one that caught the strange look on the Extractor's face. Cobb's eyes had been bright and briefly alighting on his surroundings, roaming all over the first class cabin as if trying to absorb the atmosphere of the plane itself, than they froze and then unfroze in the same instance.

Saito shrugged and looked at his window. He grabbed his own face; glad to see his reflection looking eagerly back at him and much younger. He set down the phone preparing to stretch his limbs now that the plane had come to a stop.

He was jostled out of this happy activity by a thump and then furious arguing.

"What do mean you didn't notice. How could you not notice?" Cobb was yelling.

Saito turned in his seat and stared at the two men. Cobb and Arthur were standing face to face with Dom practically shoving Arthur, who was trying to get Cobb to lower his voice but the man was clearly not giving in to younger man's shushing. The Dream Machine was on the floor by their feet where it landed after being knocked out of the seat.

"Look, I'm sure its nothing. Everything will be fine." Arthur said attempting to pacify Cobb into silence.

"Are you crazy? This is definitely something that is not fine. How could you not notice that she hasn't woken up? How the hell could you let this happen?" Cobb accused gesturing wildly at Ariadne, who remained in peaceful dreams.

Arthur was usually pretty laid back but this was not his fault and no matter how much he loved and respected Dom, he was not going to put up with his abuse. He'd had enough during the whole Mal fiasco. "Me? I'm not the one she went into limbo for. I'm not the one who dazzled her with all the wonders of creating her own world."

"I was showing her the job, nothing else."

"The job? That's why you stayed in the warehouse with her nearly every night that we were working?" Arthur stood to his full height and shoved Cobb back. "I'm not the one who made her fall in love with him. I'm not the one who corrupted her," he hissed.

It took two seconds to register what Arthur had just accused him of and three for the anger to boil over enough to punch him in the face. "What the hell do you know?" Dom shouted enraged as the fear that he had gotten her lost like Mal threatened to suffocate him.

Arthur fell to the ground but was up in an instant and ready to reciprocate.

Eames had gotten up at this point and was holding Dominic back with all his might and failing while Yusuf was attempting to do the same with Arthur. "All you do is research, you have no idea what its like, what do you know of that kind of complexity?"

"You're right, I don't but I'm also not getting lost in my own creations or dragging others in with me either, Dominic." Arthur whispered, shrugging Yusuf off and stepping back as he elegantly wiped at his bleeding lip with his pocket-handkerchief.

"Gentleman, lets not do, " Eames looked at Cobb, "or say, " he looked at Arthur, "anything we might regret. For now we must help the young lady. Agreed?"

Arthur and Dom glared at each other in answer.

"I am quite grateful for you assistance, Mr. Cobb. Perhaps you and the young lady could rest at my home. It is large and very spacious." Saito leaned in and whispered, "and very private."

Arthur, Eames and Cobb all nodded. The flight attendant escorted Yusuf and the very curious Fischer Jr. off the plane leaving only the four men and one sleeping young woman. Saito pulled out his phone spoke in rapid Japanese and hung up. "Arrangements have been made, the plane will go to my private hanger. I will have a limo waiting for you."

Saito then turned to Arthur and Eames, "another limo is standing by if you gentlemen wish to depart to a different destination. Eames shook his head and Arthur reluctantly agreed.

"Excellent."

The plane slid into the hangar less than twenty minutes later, Saito leading with Eames and Arthur following. Dominic Cobb came out last, carrying a still slumbering architect securely in his arms. He came down carefully. His heart was shattering but it wasn't sure for whom, his children that would have to wait longer or for her to whom he owed his life and so much more.

_"Are phobias an issue?" she asked staring intently at the board he was currently writing on._

_"It can be if they occupy your mind and you project them in, why?"_

_"I'm afraid of heights." _

_Of all the things he had expected her to say that was definitely out of left field. He couldn't have been more surprised than if she had just confessed that she was secretly in love with Arthur. Though that particular idea made him frown._

_The frown turned into a full-blown grin as he wondered what her reaction would be if asked her if she was nursing a secret crush on the stylish point man, that visual alone almost made him laugh out loud and it took great effort to keep it from escaping._

_He was so caught up in this scenario that he hadn't noticed that he hadn't answered her confession and had somehow offended her at the same time. By the time all this dawned on him, Ariadne had already been walking away and muttering something about expecting this from Arthur but not him._

_He let her go explaining to himself that it was better that she not get too attached to him. If he were honest with himself Dominic would admit that he was a coward. _

_The last few days of working with her had been the best ones he'd had since Mal had left him. He'd even managed to sleep a few times without a nightmare for a whole day. That was a serious improvement from a few days ago._

_Perhaps it was that she was so new, she had such a pure view of the work. She didn't have terrible experiences to paint her dream canvas and if she did, Ariadne was excellent at hiding them._

_At first when Miles had suggested her, he had been on board and happy to get another of Mile's protégés but after the disastrous encounter between her and Mal at the bridge it had been Arthur trying to convince him to keep her instead of the other way around._

_She was good but she was also cocky and didn't follow directions for crap._

_He was grateful that she didn't, otherwise she would have never found out about his little secret. The first few nights after that he didn't even want to speak to her but then while pouring over a layout she had asked him a very simple question._

_She has asked him if he was sleeping ok._

_Now he hadn't spilled his guts or anything of the kind. Dom was not wired that way but he did open up a little about not being able to dream and that had been enough. She had just asked once and he had confessed once because she didn't have to know everything about him._

_What she did know made her concerned not judgmental and he appreciated that more than he showed. Feeling terribly guilty for letting her believe that he had found her fear funny, Dom had gone in search of her._

_He had caught her sitting on his chair/bed scribbling away with a look of pure creation on her face. He hadn't wanted to disturb her but she had sensed his presence and they had launched into a very interesting and awkward talk._

"_Being the architect doesn't guarantee control, it's all an illusion," he said softly reminding himself more than cautioning her. "Besides, fears are never rational." _

_She leaned closer to him, "are you afraid of anything?" _

_He'd been startled by her sudden proximity because even though they had spent many nights just doing nothing, Dom had always seen her as a kid sister but now with those brown eyes so close and brightened by the soft lamp light, it forced him see how beautiful she was and how not remotely sister-like his thoughts of her were._

_That realization made it stand out how truly alone they were and how they were now sharing a space that was not meant for two. She leaned even closer and repeated her question, "are you afraid of anything?"_

**'**_**I'm afraid of failing my kids, I'm afraid of forgetting my wife. I'm afraid of botching this job, I'm afraid of my own mind but most of all I'm afraid of the feelings that grow more and more every time you look at me. I'm afraid that I'm too old and you're too young and that it won't matter and I'll try for you anyway. I'm afraid that I'm not good for you but I'll be selfish and not care.'**_

_That was what he thought but not what came out of his mouth. He instantly shuttered his feelings, his voice going flat, "failing. That's what we should all fear."_

_The warmth of the moment was gone so quickly that he felt bad for having put that forlorn expression on her face. He had enough guilt that it be a miracle if he slept at all the rest of the week. Determined to get away and not subject her to anymore of his issues, he got up abruptly signaling that it was the end of this particular discussion. _

_"I built the bridge as a reminder that my fear can only control me if I let it," she burst out._

_Apparently he hadn't been quick enough so he paused. "I'll remember that."_

_"Hey." Her head shot up and he walked back just far enough to be in her sight. Dom regarded her thoughtfully. The corner of his mouth lifted as he noticed what it was she was using as a pillow and she blushed, "keep the heights to a minimum."_

_"You worried about me?"_

_"I don't really like them either," he replied and disappeared from view, feeling a bit less heaviness in his steps._

_He went back to what he had been working on but he couldn't shake the image of her honey brown hair spread out over his blue sports coat. _

_Unable to resist he had checked up on her. She was in his bed without a care, her sketchbooks on the floor and a smudge on her nose. The blanket tangled around her legs, all while dreaming away and unaware of the observation. "All the time. I worry about you all the time." _

_He sighed softly re-arranging the blanket around her small figure and dropping a quick kiss on her smooth cheek. "Probably more than I should." _

_He had waited and worked and waited some more but sleep would not come. Mal was still haunting him and as much as he longed to find the solace that the Architect provided, he could allow himself to taint her further._

_It wasn't until the fingers of late twilight were upon him that he finally gave in. He pulled up a chair beside her and lay down, facing her. His eyes traced from her softly parted lips to her charcoal coated nose to the long lashes resting on her ivory skin and finally to that honey, no caramel colored hair spread out on his coat just like he had pictured._

_It was with that image that he fell asleep. Several hours later he rose, moved the chair away and brushed his hand over that hair, she turned in her sleep, a smile on her face. _

Dom's only hope was that she would forgive him for trapping her. He looked down at her sweet, heart shaped face and tightened his hold on her.

He'd go back for her; he'd make it right this time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah, the other story helped. Can I say how excited I was that Lobsters Forever read it. (I will go bask in that in a second) **

**I researched but Miles' wife has no name so i gave her one and they also give no first name for Saito, so i gave him one. It means beginning, I think that it's appropriate.**

**Now Dom will be very progressive in helping out Ariadne but it will take time. The man loves his guilt.**

**Anyhoo, hope you like.**

**Enjoy.**

**P.s. Thank you for all your reviews on both my stories. I'm glad to contribute to this amazing couple.  
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The minute the crew did not appear as promised, Miles knew that something had gone terribly wrong. His mobile rang and he tried to shake the feeling of the déjà vu that gripped him as he saw who was calling.

It had been him the last time too.

"I'm going to assume this is not a social call," Miles answered.

"Given our past history did you think it would be?"

Miles said nothing.

The man on the other end, having known the professor for many years did not bother to explain the reason for the call. They would have plenty of time to discuss that later.

He instead gave a list of instructions that would not be repeated. Time was of the essence and every second wasted was one more that Ariadne remained under.

It was just another second he would find himself torn between hating Dominic Cobb for taking her out of his reach and placing her in so much danger and hating himself for giving her to Dom to begin with.

The fear that there might not be much he could do if he did manage to get to Ariadne in time also came to the forefront but that would have to be his worry and his alone for now.

The man paused for breath allowing Miles to interject one very important question.

"Are they ok?"

"Define ok?" the man responded.

"How is Dominic and how long has she been under?" miles asked.

"By my calculations about twenty minutes."

"So about four hours then." Miles could almost hear the young man on the other end adjust his tie uncomfortably. "I'll meet you there as soon as possible."

Though why the professor bothered to make the moot point neither man knew.

Miles hung up and tried to mentally prepare himself to see his top student be pulled back under. He would have to let Madelyn know that Dom would not make it to dinner, the children would no doubt be disappointed but it couldn't be helped.

Miles unfortunately had first hand knowledge of what would happen if Dom fended for himself.

"He's not coming is he?" Madelyn asked.

He sighed heavily, knowing that this would give her even more of a reason to hate Dominic. "Madelyn, he can't. There was a problem and he-" Not that she needed one.

She interrupted him; "this is just another one of his ploys to pull you into his increasingly ridiculous fantasies. How long will you let him get away with it?"

"This isn't just about him. If you let me finish, there is someone else. A young woman and she-"

"Another one? Stephen. You allowed him to have another!" She yelled. "How could you do that after all the damage he inflicted on this family? How could you give him the opportunity to do this to another family, to another innocent woman?"

"It wasn't all Dominic. Yes, he had a lot of fault in what happened but Mallorie was not innocent. She knew the dangers and chose to ignore them. She abandoned our grandchildren as much if not more than he did, and he has been doing everything in his power to get back to them and all you can do is condemn the man?"

The line went quiet and for a moment he wondered if she had hung up on him. Mal's involvement in her own suicide was the one sour note in their genial marriage. "Maddy," he began gently, "Dominic has paid the heaviest price, he lost his wife and his children. Can we not extend a hand out to him in memory of our daughter?"

"He killed her, Stephen. He should be dead along with her. I will not question what you are going to do, you know how I feel and I will not waste any more words trying to convince you to honor your daughter instead of her killer."

Click, Click, Click.

The call waiting flashed. "I have to answer this, but please if you won't trust him than trust me to know what I am doing."

"I just have to ask one last thing. Have you informed him of the judge's decision?"

"What decision? the hearing is not for another month." Miles answered alarmed.

"No, Stephen. Today was the deadline and Dominic did not make it. You and I, are now James and Phillipa's legal guardians." His call waiting beeped again.

"We will talk about this later." Miles said. Madelyn sent him the children's love and hung up.

Miles didn't dwell on the news his wife had left as her final word. He instead ran into the airport and looked around for Arthur, where the latter was supposed to meet him but in the chaos of LAX, it was nearly impossible to distinguish one well-dressed gentlemen from another.

"Would Mr. Stephen Miles please go to the courtesy desk, you have an urgent phone call. Mr. Stephen Miles, please go to the courtesy desk, you have an urgent phone call." The message was announced two more times before Miles finally made it to the courtesy desk.

"Stephen Miles." He said to the lady manning the desk.

"The green phone sir."

"Thank you. Ahh, hello?"

"Mr. Miles. This is Mr. Watane, I am the personal assistant of a very good friend of Mr. Cobb." The man said in lightly accented tones.

"And just who might this friend be?" Miles asked.

"It would be better if you were to meet him in person instead," the man replied.

Miles wasn't much for the cloak and danger routine but he knew that Dominic still had two major problems; he was a wanted fugitive and that Cobol Engineering was still looking for him.

"All right. Where can I meet him?"

"Hang up your phone and head out the door and to your right." The line went dead and Miles was forced to do as he was told.

He thanked the girl and went back the way he had come. The doors opened and he turned to his right where a large black stretch limousine was parked. The door opened and out stepped Eames.

"You must be the Professor. I'm Eames."

"Are you-?"

"No but you're on the right track. Let's go. Time is wasting." He tapped his watch and Miles was once again forced to do what he was told.

Miles sat and the door was instantly closed behind him. The silence lasted only until the car's motor was started and they pulled out of the airport traffic.

"Mr. Eames, just how is it that you know Dom?"

"Just Eames. Dom and I go back aways, we met in a set of rather interesting circumstances," seeing Miles curious gaze, he elaborated very little, "let's just say that he helped me regain my freedom."

Miles wasn't satisfied by the answer but let it go, he had more important questions to ask of this Eames fellow. "Am I correct in assuming that you were involved in this last job of his?" Eames confirmed it. "So what was your function?"

Eames took a quick glance at the driver but he was paying them no attention. "I am an accessory. I copy people and help in instilling a sense of security in the false environment."

"So you're a forger. You lie to the mark to make the Extraction less difficult." Miles deadpanned.

"You're a right old smart one. No wonder Cobb asked for you to be brought in straight away."

"Where is Cobb?"

"Arthur no doubt called you and let you know that both him and little Ari were taken to a more secure location." Eames leaned back against the seat. He popped open a panel and grabbed a champagne bottle. "Need to take the edge off, care for some?"

Miles said no. "We are going to that location as we speak. Part of the group is already there, you and I and Yusuf will be the last to arrive. Arthur is setting up the PASIV machines."

"Yusuf?"

"Chemist, this last job was a beauty…" he took a drink, "…and a beast, lots of things went right but lots went wrong."

"Obviously or I would not be here." Miles said leaning back as well.

Between the two of them the small and no doubt expensive bottle was polished off, as conversation was difficult with both of them busy gathering their thoughts and courage for the job ahead.

The car turned into the entrance of a large and private mansion. Two gates and a card reader later, they were allowed onto a tree-lined road that ended in a massive driveway where two other limousines awaited.

The limo parked alongside its brethren. The door was opened and both men quickly stepped out and were greeted by a tall and slim Asian man. "I am Mr. Watane, Mr. Eames and Mr. Miles, please come this way. You are expected."

Miles was surprised when the small bag was taken from his hands and added to the piles of baggage next to the two limousines. He looked around noticing the many unmarked trucks unloading blank wooden boxes that were being taken into an equally blank door on the side of the house.

Miles hurried to catch up to Eames and Mr. Watane who was patiently waiting by the main door. "Gentlemen, if you would wait in the salon, your host will be with you momentarily."

Watane bowed and left them at the door of said salon. Eames went in and Miles followed awed and apprehensive of the man that could and did own all this.

"Mr. Stephen Miles, I presume."

The elegant form of another Japanese businessman made its way into room, extending out a western greeting to Miles, he introduced himself. "I am, Hajime Saito. Welcome to my home."

"It's a very lovely home you have here, Mr. Saito." Miles answered shaking his hand.

"I say the same but given our past relationship, I'm not terribly surprised at its elegance." Eames smirked.

Saito smiled slightly and led them out of the room. "You no doubt have many questions as to what my involvement with Mr. Cobb and his team is, no?"

"Yes, of course. I am very grateful for whatever assistance you are providing for Dom but perhaps now that-" Miles began but Saito cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I owe Mr. Cobb a great deal, it is a matter of great honor to assist him, as you say. He is a great friend not just a business relation."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply or to offend." Miles said, truthfully he was surprised by the scope of what Dominic and apparently Ariadne had done and the people who had clearly been involved not to mention the depth of concern they were all displaying. I made him wonder just what kind of job it had been to endear them all to the two.

"Mr. Cobb is in there. I leave him in you capable hands." Saito bowed and left as quickly as he'd come.

"Strange set of people thrown together in such a strange set of circumstances have made all of us a little testy. Don't worry, he'll warm up to you." Eames assured Miles.

They had no chance to even approach the door as it was instantly thrown open and they were met by none other than Arthur. "Miles, I'm so relieved you're here." The younger man hugged him in an uncharacteristic show of emotion. "They're in there."

Nobody bothered to elaborate on who _'they' _were.

Laid out on a very sumptuous and princess like bed, that she would no doubt hate if she had ever laid eyes on it, was Ariande. Eyes closed, face blank. At her side was Dom, equally blank save for tension held in his long frame that hunched over her, painting her body with his shadow.

**'Ariadne, I warned you to be careful.'**

Dominic snapped from his self-imposed vigil. He lifted his head and greeted Miles with hollow eyes.

"Dominic?"

His name broke the dam and Dom rose from the bed and stood before his former professor, guilt painted his features and purged the words from his mouth. "Miles, I…I'm not sure. I tried, I didn't think. I did everything you said…I don't know how. I didn't let her near it. I swear, I watched her but she got in and-"

Miles gripped the younger man's arms, "shh…it's alright, Dominic. I'm here, Arthur is here, we're all here to help you with Ariadne, you aren't alone." Miles took the younger man in his arms and hugged him to him, quietly muttering words of encouragement that quieted the scared babbling escaping the extractor's mouth.

Arthur and Eames exited the room giving Dominic the privacy he needed.

"What do you think?" Eames asked Arthur.

"About what?"

"Think we can get her out?" Eames asked.

"That depends." Arthur muttered.

"On?"

"Whatever is keeping her in there."


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so excited, another chappie for you guys.**

**I apologize in advance if Ari seems a bit OC but it was necessary...let just say that Limbo heightens certain aspects of her personality that she normally keeps hidden. She will be kick ass Ari through out the story. Cause that's how Domi likes her.**

**Anyway, hopefully it meets to this fandom's exalted standards. (shameless flattery is good)**

**Enjoy...**

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"No, I jumped. It was a choice."

"Well, thank you either way," he said releasing her. "Considering how you feel about heights, it means a lot," he replied picking up her bag and slugging it onto his shoulder.

"Cobb?" Ariadne wasn't really sure where he assumed she was going but his house was not somewhere she was willing to go without first getting herself and her feelings for him sorted.

Besides his family reunion was long overdue and she didn't want to detract him from that. No matter how much she lo…liked him.

"Cobb?" He turned.

"You know my friends call me Dom." He held her hand, this time tentatively, "you are my friend, aren't you Ari? Do you mind if I call you that?"

She stared at him dumbfounded.** 'Had he always had the flirtatious tone? Had he used it on her before and she just hadn't noticed it cause she'd been so busy worrying about him? Where had the somber man she'd known gone? Had she really even known him?' **

"Ariadne?" he shook her gently bringing her out of her thoughts, "I was just joking."

"Wha…what...oh I know. I just-" she shrugged. "That famous jet lag has apparently taken over me. Sorry I don't mean to space out on you, what did you ask?"

"I asked If I can call you Ari? Not that I don't like Ariadne but I feel like I'm butchering it every time I say it."

There he went again, giving her that slightly mischievous look. It was quickly becoming her favorite expression of his and was dangerously close to letting him have his way, close but not yet.

"You're not but if you want to call me Ari, then I get to call you Dominic."

He raised an eyebrow in question.

She could understand his silent query, most people would rather say a nickname than such an austere mouthful like Dominic but Ariadne wasn't like most people and given their new relationship, she felt comfortable enough to explain it to him. "Dom sounds, and I'm telling you at the risk of sounding like Arthur, lacking in refinement, for someone like you."

"Lacking in refinement, huh?" He grabbed his chin in pretend thought, "definitely something that Arthur would say and I think he'd agree with you."

"Really?" she suddenly was glad for the topic. It took the scrutiny off her and it was nice to hear these bits and pieces of information about the rest of their team. It made them sound more like friends that a bunch of people working for a paycheck.

Ariadne felt a strong urge to reconnect with them all and would do so when she got better established.

They had been her only companions all those weeks prior to the job and if she was honest with herself, she'd admit that they were the closest thing to family she'd had since her only remaining family, her Aunt Kate had died, a few years ago.

"Why do you think Arthur is called Arthur and not Arty. He once told me that he felt his parents clearly gave him that name to inspire him to be greater that his circumstances."

"That's an interesting way to look at it and Arthur is too debonair to be an Arty."

"So are you implying that I too, am too debonair to pull off Dom and therefore by your reasoning, I should be called Dominic?" he teased.

"In a matter of speaking…yeah…I. Yes, I think you are much too debonair and a man of the world to be called Dom. Its Dominic Cobb or nothing else." She answered happy to be able to tease him back as well as keeping the blush off her face in spite of his obvious flirtation.

"I guess I'll have to bow to your argument then." He bowed causing her to burst out laughing and waving him off until he straightened to his original towering height.

"I think we better stop before we make a spectacle of ourselves, which by the looks we're getting is clearly all ready too late." She replied noticing the questioning looks being thrown by their fellow airport patrons not to mention the ones being thrown by more than a few jealous women.

"You're right, how about I save you any more embarrassment and we share a cab, my treat." He said in attempt to forestall her from protesting.

"You don't know where I'm going, what if its out of your way?" She wasn't quite comfortable with being alone with him just yet even though she was discovering a lighter side to him. Ariadne was still learning about him and she wasn't one to jump in feet first.

This connection between them was too new and fragile to her eyes and she wanted to proceed carefully. He obviously had no such qualms. "Tell me where you're going and then I'll tell you where I live and we can decide if it's out of the way or not."

Although she truly appreciated his concern, it would be unwise to tell him the whole truth. If she did he would feel compelled to protect her and she didn't want to rebuff him and seem ungrateful. "I'm not really sure where I'm staying yet. This is only the second time I've been in L.A." was all she ventured.

"How come? If you don't mind me asking."

Figuring she might as well tell him something in return for all her meddling in his mind, she said, "it was for my Aunt Kate's funeral. I never had a reason to come back after that."

Suddenly telling him that she didn't have anywhere to stay seemed like a bad idea. She could already see his eyes softening and his mouth ready to utter his condolences. She didn't want him or anybody else to feel pity for her.

Her Aunt Kate had been very special to her. She'd taken her in when nobody else would.

Ariadne had been fourteen at the time and very closed off after her father's death. Aunt Kate had taken her in and she'd been the first one to show her the beauty of creating. It had been father's dream before her mother had gotten ill.

She had sought solace in the knowledge that she was doing what her father had been unable to do. It had opened up the serious teenager and gained a trusted place in her heart for her father's sister. "It was several years ago so I'm ok about it now."

Dom nodded in understanding. "Since you're a stranger to the city, all the more reason for us to share that cab and let me be your guide to some nice hotel that won't kill your income."

She was grateful that he had understood her discomfort and didn't immediately suggest his home. "Yeah, that would be nice. Still a student so blowing all my cash would be bad."

"Ok, well now that we've reached a decision. Let's go."

Ariadne in all her years on this earth had never let anybody lead her around without some sort of discussion, no one not even Aunt Kate had ever accomplished that feat. The only one that had ever gotten close was Miles and that was just because the man respected her work and wasn't afraid to trade sarcastic barbs with her.

Dominic had been given more caution especially with him being Miles' protegee. The caution had been clearly warranted and she was extra grateful that she had guarded herself against that vulnerable and yet untouchable demeanor of his.

Though not apparently as well as she had thought, Ariadne pondered ruefully. Since she was here not more that a few hours out of the job from hell with the very man who had led her into it.

She had ignored all her own rules and let him not only touch her most precious possession but given him a piece of her history that no one else knew about as if he hadn't been hanging around with an evil twisted version of his wife more than a few hours ago.

A version that had almost taken his mind, something she seemed to have forgotten quickly enough.

It didn't help that she was struggling with herself whether or not to recall how perfect her lips had fit against his when he had been asleep and lost to her on the plane or how he hadn't protested when she kissed him for real or how his lips had pressed back.

She did recall in horrifying detail how bewildered he'd been when he woken and she'd thrown her arms around him. That memory or the fact that he hadn't said a word after he kissed her back didn't curtail the desire to kiss those lips again and really get a reaction out of him.

Ariadne was keenly aware of how open she had been with him.

Here she was happily walking alongside him, with him gallantly carrying her bag and leading her with his very warm hand on her lower back. She studied him out of the corner of her eye. He was very different from what she was used to seeing of him, she marveled at the idea that this was perhaps the real Dominic and what she had known had been the shade.

He seemed happier and less haggard, she'd like to think it might have to do with her but she was a realist.

Though Dominic still looked tired and the darkness in his eyes was still visible she had no doubt that a few weeks with his children would help dissipate it, she however didn't have a clue if she would still be in the picture by the time that happened.

He didn't have to do much to flag a cab since more than a few were idling at the passenger drop off curb. No doubt illegally but LAX security was too busy with other concerns. He hustled her in and followed closely behind. So close she actually felt his body heat at her back.

They settled into their seats and Dominic gave an address she didn't recognize. She tilted her head back against the seat and covered herself with her jacket. It was surprisingly chilly so early in the morning even with the sunshine blazing through the window.

She twisted in her seat and faced Dominic who was staring out the window.

She had to admit it, he was much more handsome relaxed as he was, and that was saying something. The man should definitely come with a warning.

"So aren't you curious where we're going?" He asked.

Somehow after her very extensive emotional ride, she found that she just wanted to rest her head on a warm fluffy pillow and could care less where he was taking her, Dominic had earned some trust. Wherever it was, she was sure it would be safe. "Nope."

"I really wore you out didn't I?" His breath fogged up the window. "I'm so sorry for everything you went through. I can never thank you enough for doing it."

His words chased the sleep from her eyes and she sat up straighter. "Dominic. You don't have to thank me. See your kids faces and tell me what they look like, that will be thanks enough."

"Is it? I don't think so." This was the most serious she had ever heard him apart from when they had confronted him about being possibly stuck in Limbo if killed under sedation.

"Dominic, look at me."

He didn't turn choosing instead to continue his viewing of the city skyline.

"Goddammit have the guts to look at me." She snapped not liking his attitude and what it could convey as to the directions of his thoughts. Ariadne had an unnatural ability to decipher Dominic Cobb and what she was seeing scared her more that anything she had seen so far.

"What, Ariadne. I'm looking at you, satisfied?" he asked facing her angrily.

"Why are you acting like this? You were fine, what the hell happened?"

"What happened?" He slid closer and grabbed her upper arms dragging her roughly to him. "You happened. That's what fucking happened."

She flinched from his violent answer but didn't back down. "I helped you and this is how you repay me? What the fuck's your problem? You kiss me and then drag me along with you and now you're acting like you don't want me around."

"I didn't ask for your help," he snarled. "You stuck your nose where it didn't belong and made such a mess that we landed in Limbo."

"I should have left your sorry ass to fend for yourself. I should have never tried to help you obviously you have way deeper issues that I could ever hope to fix. I wished you'd never recruited me, I wish I had never let you kiss me and I really wish I had never shared dreams with you. You aren't worth it." She spat and shoved out of his arms until she landed as far away as she could.

"Same here but for the record, you kissed me first…on the plane."

She would have gasped but his words punched her in the stomach robbing her of the air necessary for such an action. Ariadne prided herself on not showing any emotion as she told the cabbie to stop.

"Where are you going to go?"

"Away from you." She stepped out of the car and ran to the nearest hotel where she could cry the rest of her heart out.

"Ari!" He yelled.

She ignored his calling and went into the lobby of the nearest one. Her gaze trained on the check-in desk. "I would like a room."

"Of course, ma'am. We have several lovely suites available-"

"Whatever is available, I don't care." Ariadne slammed down a credit card anxious to escape to her room and put herself together again.

"Room 582. There are three restaurants on this floor and the elevators are to your left. Any-" Ariadne took the key and her card muttering a quick thank you before the man could finish.

It wasn't until she was in the elevator that realized that she didn't have her bag with her. She groaned as she remembered that her bag was in the trunk of the cab, the cab where she'd had that awful fight with Dom. Well at least she didn't have to worry about what future they could possible have.

She swallowed a painful lump and pushed the button for her floor. It didn't matter, it would never have worked out between them. "It wouldn't have, we're too different. He's got his kids and I have-" she couldn't even finish that sentence.

'**What did she have?'**

The door pinged open and she stepped out onto the quiet floor. She looked at her room key and followed the numbers on the wall to where she would spend the night alone.

"You forgot this."

Ariadne halted in her tracks, not really surprised to see that he had followed her. "Thanks," was all she said as she jammed her key card into the slot, tore her bag from his hands and attempted to close the door in his face.

"Can I come in for a second? We need to talk, please Ari?"

"We talked enough in the car. There's nothing else to say." She said crossing her arms.

"Strange weather, wouldn't you say?" he said making his way in and pointing towards the large scenic window where a sunny sky was being showcased.

"What?"

"Dreams…they feel real while we're in them right? Its only when we wake up that we realize something was strange." He replied pointing to the now cloudy weather.

"What did you say?"

"How did I get here? How did I know your room number?" he asked not answering her question.

"My room number?" she echoed.

He took her hand and led her to the door. He pointed to the number on the door. "582, look familiar?"

She shook her head, too confused to understand what he was getting at.

"Look at it, Ariadne. Look." He pointed but she still looked at him blankly. He grabbed the eight and the two and switched them.

"528." She read aloud.

"528, what's the rest of the number?"

"There isn't…" she stared at the number. She placed a finger on the eight then the two and past them to the empty space next to the eight. "491." She breathed and traced the numbers onto the door.

The numbers rose on the wood until they sat in a neat row, "528491."

"That's not possible, that was Fischer's number. That was his number and we got out, we all got out…that's not possible." She began to scream getting more hysterical as it dawned on her.

Dominic pulled her into the room and closed the door. She struggled but he kept pulling her forward until they were back at the window. "Look out, Ariadne."

"No, its not possible," she repeated with her eyes closed.

"Ari, please look."

"I…please don't make me. Please." She cried brokenly, hiding her face against his chest.

"Sweetheart, look."

She unburied her face from his body and looked out.

Gone was the city. There was only a wide expanse of blue ocean as far as her eyes could see, nothing but waves breaking on a beach with deteriorating skyscrapers dotting its shore.

"We all got out." She repeated but he shook his head. "I didn't, did I? I waited for you. I was caught in the van. I never left the van." He nodded sadly. "Did you make it out?"

"I would assume but I don't know." He said quietly.

"Why the hell don't you know? Aren't you the real Dominic Cobb?" He shook his head again but this time a tear slid down his face. "If you're not him, then who or what are you?"

"I'm a projection of him." He cupped her stricken face, "Ari, I'm you're projection of him."

He dropped his hand from her face and she stepped back slowly, "so everything that happened at the plane and the airport. You didn't really ki-you don't really feel that way about me?"

He stepped forward to comfort her but she just backed against the wall and slid down it. "You were everything that I wanted him to be. Those were my feelings you were showing."

"Ari-"

"Shut up! You're not real, you're a shade. You're just like Mal." She cried covering her face with her hands, "I never made it and now I'm here…in limbo…alone…not alone…with a Cobb that isn't him."

"He'll come for you." shade Dominic said.

She lifted her face, "don't lie to me."

"I'm not. He'll come." He assured her, "I'm sure of it."

"How?"

"Because I maybe a projection but I'm also the feelings you've picked up from him. He cares about you, that is still true."

"Do you think so?" she asked hating herself for being so weak but she was terrified. It was bad enough to be stuck here but to be here all alone until she lost sight of reality was worse.

He sat beside her and she put her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently, "yes. I do or rather you do."

He began to get up but she grabbed his sleeve, "don't leave me."

"I'm not, I'll be here when you wake." He bent down and scooped her up into his arms. She lazily wrapped her arms around his neck and he deposited her softly on the bed.

"You promise?" she asked yawning slightly and rolling to the left side of the bed.

He sat beside her but she motioned for him to lie down. "Go to sleep and rest. You won't give up or wait like some damsel in distress. Its not in your nature." He said tucking her body closer to him until her head was nestled beneath his chin.

"You're pretty smart," she gave a teary laugh.

"You made me." He replied and dropped a kiss on her head.

"Yeah I did. You have to rest too. We have a lot of work to do before you find us." She repeated sleepily, "you'll find us."

"I will."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm working on chapter 8 and was actually gonna put it up first since I love shade Dom and Ari but decided I let you see what the others are doing meanwhile.**

**Shade Dom and real Dominic will meet likely in chapter 9 or 10 (still not sure)**

**(I will have some A/A but not for very long I promise. I just don't like it but I need it for the tension.)**

**So enjoy...**

**P.S. In my profile is the link for Fanfic video for this story. It has some stuff that will come up later in the story. Feel free to check it out.  
**

* * *

Eames set up the PASIV machine while Arthur put in the lines for Dom and Miles.

"Ok, you have the usual five minutes." Eames reminded them as he put the timer on and eased them into the dream.

"An opera house?" Dom asked looking around and studying the large stage covered by an ornate curtain. He walked along the side of it admiring its usual trimmings of ropes and pulleys that allowed it to open gracefully. They emerged in an alcove full of set pieces and various racks full of accessories. Small shrubs and lanterns hung off hooks and fabrics of many colors were pined to walls.

"I haven't taken Madelyn to the opera in years."

"I can see that," Dom chuckled amused. The many posters that littered the backstage area announced plays that hadn't run in over twenty years.

"Setting is not the issue, though for not having designed in a while this is rather charming." Miles said admiring the grand moldings and the lush red fabric that covered the seats. Beautiful frescoes adorned the high ceilings, which were illuminated by a large chandelier that boasted tiny perfect crystal drops.

He admired his handiwork for a moment longer before getting to the reason they were actually here, "I want to make sure that you have Mal out of your subconscious."

Dom nodded and they resumed the exploring. "Nothing so far." Miles walked around stepping over ropes, pulling and checking the cinching on their holders.

"Inspecting for sabotage, you really are expecting her to show up, aren't you?"

"I know my daughter, Dom. If your shade is anything like her, being crushed by scenery or having stage lights topple us would be the least of our troubles."

He moved aside a large paper mache moon to further inspect the rest of his dream space. A corner of an impossible shade of green emerged as the moon was moved sideways. At first it looked like any other piece of large background scenery but something about it made Miles want to prop it up and uncover the rest of it.

It was with some effort that it was dragged forward and between him and Dom the tarp was lifted off of it. "Well, I didn't design this."

Dom having moved back towards the edge of the stage to get a better scope of the massive piece, switched places with Miles until he was directly in front of it. "This is-"

"I'm going to assume that you have something to do with why this popped up in here."

"Yeah," Dom looked at the outer circle of the piece looking for an entrance. He traced it a few times but no opening appeared. "This was the maze she drew when I was testing her, what do you think this means? Miles…"

"Daddy had to leave." Mal answered.

Dom turned on the spot and slipped the gun from his holster, "what are you doing here?"

She lifted her hands up; "I'm here because you want me here."

"No, I don't." Dom answered keeping the gun trained on her.

"Suit yourself but remember I'm just a projection. I have no will of my own, so there must be a reason for you to have brought me here."

She advanced on him but didn't attempt to touch him. Instead she walked around and inspected the maze. "Impressive. She is very talented."

Dom lowered his weapon. "Mal, don't play with me. What do you want?"

"I already explained that I want nothing. The better question is what do you want?"

He walked to the edge of the stage. "I want her to get back to her life so I can continue mine."

A pair of arms wrapped around his middle and he could feel her breath on his neck, "you shouldn't lie to yourself, sweetheart. It's counterproductive."

He unwrapped her arms and balanced on the edge, "I'm not gonna do this anymore, goodbye Mal."

"Do you really want her to just go back to her life? That's all you want?"

Dom began to tip forward and off the stage. "Yes. That's all."

"Well if that's the truth and you truly want to just find Ariadne, you shouldn't need me." She shouted but he was lost to her.

Seconds later he opened his eyes to the worried faces of Miles, Eames and Arthur. "So how did she kill you?" Arthur asked.

Dom sat up and rubbed his head where he had hit the opera house floor, "she didn't. She wasn't violent at all. I stepped off the stage. All she did was talk."

"If that's the case, why did she yank out Miles?" Eames asked.

"I would imagine that Dom wanted to talk to himself." Miles replied.

"Why would I bring in Mal for that? And how could she be there if I got rid of her when I was in limbo?" Dom asked.

Miles sat opposite the confused Dom, "its obvious that although you indeed get rid of that murderous rage of hers, it seems that she is still a necessity for you. That's the only way you would have been able to bring her back up."

"Why would he need her to talk to himself? He could do that alone and without dream share." Arthur said also puzzled as to why Dom would allow her to isolate him simply to talk and not hurt him in some way when he refused.

Miles explained. "Projections are the mind's way of separating various thoughts and ideas from the jumble of the conscious mind. The subconscious simplifies them into the one form that will most benefit the dreamer. In your case, Mal."

"Benefit me how?"

"What did she say before you broke out?"

"She said if I just wanted to find Ariadne that I wouldn't need her." Dom answered. He didn't need to look to know that silent exchanges were being passed between his former father-in-law and his two other team members.

"Mal is aware of little Ari and what she represents." Eames said.

"That means that you cannot go after Ariadne, Arthur and Eames will have to go instead." Miles answered already seeing the disbelief on Dom's face.

"What she represents? What are you talking about? She is the architect, our colleague who is now stuck in limbo because I failed to do my job as the leader of the team. Besides Mal is part of my subconscious, whatever she knows I know." He said getting up to pace back and forth.

'_You shouldn't lie to yourself, sweetheart. It's counterproductive.'_** 'What the hell had Mal meant by that?'**

"You bringing Mal is not gonna get you anywhere. If Ariadne sees her, it could push her further into the limbo delusion." Arthur muttered, "are you really going to continue being so reckless?"

"I know how to find her, you don't."

"We could-"

"No you can't. I've been there, you haven't. I went once with her and I know what she'll do. I can bring her back." Cobb finished.

"This is getting us nowhere. Miles is right, until you figure out what the heck your dear wife wants and why you're still speaking to her, you cannot be part of this mission. We need to think of her." Eames pointed to Ariadne lying on the bed.

Miles could already see the mutiny on Dom's face and knew that there was no way he was going to just give up going without a fight. "How about this, let's prepare what we need and then we do a test run. If Mal truly isn't a danger then you can come along."

"Fine."

"Ok, this time I will monitor and Eames and Arthur will go in with you. Eames you know what to do. I'll give you three minutes."

Dom was put under first then Eames. Arthur grudgingly followed.

They were sitting in the lobby of a very posh hotel. In fact it was the exact same hotel where Mal had committed suicide. "Nice choice." Arthur said sarcastically.

"It's just a place to be."

"I like it, it's beautiful. The history is not its fault." Ariadne replied sitting herself right next to Dom, "right Dominic."

Arthur leaned back, "so what have you been up to?" **'Dominic? When has she begun calling him that? And more importantly why didn't Dom protest?'**

"Nothing much, just floating around limbo." She replied and Dom's head snapped around so quickly it was a wonder it didn't break his neck. "Just joking, no need to be so touchy." She said patting Dom's knee further startling him.

Ariadne grinned and Dom eyed her oddly but the smile was enough to relax him. She didn't miss the tightening of Arthur's lips when she touched Dom. **'Interesting.'**

"I think we're ok, don't you think?" Mal isn't-"

"I'm sorry I'm late." Mal replied from behind Arthur making the point man jump from his seat. "Why how gentlemanly of you to give up your seat." She sat down and picked up a champagne glass from the tray that had not been there before. "Drinks on me."

Ariadne shrugged and reached for one of the glasses but Dom intercepted her hand, "don't."

"Paranoid, Dom? I'm a little hurt." Mal touched her chest dramatically but it was at odds with the wide Cheshire cat grin. "I just wanted to toast the happy couple."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked regaining his calm demeanor, now that he had sat as far from Dom's wife as he could.

"Why you and Ariadne. Aren't you a couple? I mean nothing brings people closer than dream sharing, right Dom?"

"Naturally I had assumed…" She caught the poorly concealed dirty look that Arthur threw at Dom. "…oh wait, it wasn't you." She took a delicate sip of her champagne giving the two men a calculating grin.

"I went with Arthur too."

"Of course you did but obviously its not the same, Dom was still your first." Mal continued as if she hadn't thrown a verbal bomb, "as an Extractor and former Architect, he is very skilled. I'm sure you benefited greatly from his expertise."

Mal leaned towards Ariadne as if sharing a secret. "It was beautiful wasn't it? I bet you saw the world differently, showed you things that you'd only dreamed about, right?"

At some point Ariadne had ended up between Arthur and Dom and after what Mal had just insinuated she was very glad she did because Arthur was looking more suspicious.

His lips were pencil thin and his eyes were shooting daggers not at Mal but at the equally enraged Dominic.

She wondered what part of what Mal was saying affected him the most and why.

Ariadne could see that Dom was quickly reaching the end of his control as well and she laid a restraining hand on his arm, his muscles tightened in response but didn't relax. She could tell if this continued any longer that he would spring forward and throttle Mal no matter what the consequence to himself, anything to get her to shut up.

"It was nice café, we walked around a lot." Ariadne said attempting to diffuse the tension.

"That sounds sweet and very romantic, don't you agree Arthur?"

Arthur ignored the malicious gleam in her eyes and responded icily, "yes, I'm sure it would be if they saw each other in that light, which I'm sure Ariadne does not."

"I don't?" Ariadne asked innocently leaning just a little closer to Dom.

"No, I'm like Miles. I'm her teacher, almost like a mentor." Dom explained moving hastily away from her.

"Shame, you'd make a nice couple. Too bad." Mal replied twirling the champagne glass.

"Why is it a shame? That a perfectly appropriate relationship to have given their ages." Arthur supplied.

"Our ages? What does mine or Ari's age have to do with anything?" Dom asked beginning to get angry at Arthur's assumptions.

"Just that he thinks you're too old for her. Isn't that right?" Mal instigated.

"Why would that even matter to you?" Ariadne asked closing the gap between her and Dom on the couch. "Its really none of your business if I wanted to get involved with him."

"What!" Dom and Arthur said at the same time.

"It shouldn't matter to you Arthur, unless there's something you're not telling me."

Dom remained mute still stunned by what she had said previously.

Arthur spluttered for a second, "no there's nothing…nothing…" before recovering quickly, "I didn't say it was but I mean you're ten years younger than him. What can you have in common, he has kids and you're-"

"She's what?" Dom finding his voice interrupted.

Mal just sat looking back and forth between them as if watching a tennis match. "Does it bother you sweetheart, that he thinks that way about you? That he thinks you're not good enough for her or have anything left to offer?"

"I didn't say that," Arthur protested, "don't put words in my mouth."

He turned to Dominic, "you know I don't think any such thing but what kind of relationship could you have with her. It will take time for you to get back stability that won't hinge on your totem and even longer to get your life back together and she still has school, it would be irresponsible to get involved when you're still so…" he struggled for a word.

"Unstable? Is that what you were going to say? I'm too unreliable and have nothing to offer her, is that what you're saying?" Dom demanded a dangerous tone in his voice.

"Dominic, he didn't say that."

Dom turned on her, "don't defend him."

He rose from the couch but she put her hand on his arm and forced him to sit back down beside her, "I'm not, I'm just saying that he didn't say that. You're letting Mal influence you."

She cupped his face, "I have never thought you unstable."

Dom was frozen in her grasp, "you don't…"

"That's it. This dream is over." Arthur spoke up and shot himself.

Ariadne looked at the point man's body and changed back into Eames, "well that was certainly telling. I was not aware he felt that strongly about her." He said conversationally.

Snapping out of the daze fake Ariadne put him in, Dom tore Eames hands from his face and growled, "don't do that again. Don't you ever touch me like that ever again."

He then got up and sat on another chair away from Eames. "I'm only going to say this once, there is nothing going on between Ariadne and myself. There never was before the inception or otherwise, are we clear?"

"Apparently, Artie is not the only one taken in by little Ari."

"Shut up, Eames." Mal said laughingly, "don't you see that he's not ready to believe."

Dom glared at both of them then tipped the chair backward.

Eames came out and sat up just in time to see Dom get up and run to stop his friend. He said something to Arthur. Arthur said something back and stalked away angrily. Dom ran a hand through his hair in annoyance and stalked in the opposite direction.

"So I guess I owe you lunch. You were right they're both in love with her."

"I guessed as much." Miles replied putting away the PASIV machine and its components. "How did Mal behave?"

"She taunted Arthur and annoyed Cobb. You were right, she's only here because he can't seem to face the truth." Eames looked at the professor.

"What's next?"

"Dominic has to go in but I need Arthur to go in as well. He needs to come to terms with the fact that she loves Dominic and help them both back." Miles stroked the hair of the young woman everybody was fighting for. "I worry that she might not want to come back."

"Why do you say that?"

"If Dom can have Mal then its very probable that Ariadne has a shade as well."

Eames whistled, "so she's got her very own Cobb to play with."

Miles sighed, "that is why Dom has to go, to show her the emptiness of the shade. He has to convince her to come back with him. He has to convince her that he needs her more."

"We have our work cut out for us, professor."

"Yes, we do."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took so long. I have my other one shot down and I'm polishing a set of Holiday stories. Thanksgiving will be posted tomorrow and the Christmas one hopefully Monday.**

**I know that Ariadne is kinda odd but there's a very good reason. Shade Cobb is the assertiveness of her personality so she will flounder for a bit. I will not drag it out much longer.**

**Cobb and Arthur still got to talk about her so...fireworks. Not good ones.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

She wrapped her arms around her legs a little tighter trying to keep the sobs confined to her shaking body. A rustle of blankets forced her to risk a glance at the figure on the bed worrying that perhaps she had disturbed him with her crying.

He remained where he was, it made sense. After all she had just destroyed their room and he had been ok during that, some tears shouldn't be able to wake him.

She lowered her head back to her knees wondering how she had ended up on this ultra modern chair, sore, cold and feeling sorry for herself when less than hour ago she'd been asleep and smiling.

**Half An Hour Earlier  
**

"Where you going?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Bathroom."

"No," he whispered draping his arm across her abdomen. "Stay here."

"I would if I didn't have to go but I do so let me up." She whispered back.

"Hurry back." He let go of her body and she slid slowly out of the blankets. As soon as her feet hit the carpet she realized how cold the room actually was. She definitely wouldn't have gotten out of her warm cocoon if her bladder hadn't been pushing at her to move.

She rubbed her chilled arms and looked around for the source of the cold. Her eyes alighted on the window that had been cracked open, probably just enough to let the smell of the ocean drift through earlier in the day but that had apparently never been closed.

She hadn't really looked at the room before but now that she was fully awake, it seemed as good a time as any. Exploring might help her get tired letting her go back to sleep.

It was simple and elegant with beige carpeting and dark furniture. It surprised her that she had come up with it. This wasn't her taste but she assumed that some of what she had experienced in the layers had stayed with her. It definitely looked like something Arthur would have dreamed up.

The room came with a spacious bathroom and a small kitchenette with one additional guest room.

One bedroom was furnished in reds and browns that for some reason reminded her of Eames and the main bedroom where they currently were was furnished in blues and whites, this was the Cobb influence, she was sure of it.

The sitting room faced a set of large windows that led out to a good size balcony with iron scroll-work chairs; this part was hers just from the Parisian touch evident in the intricate furnishings.

She hadn't left a light on when she'd gone to the bathroom and she stumbled in the darkness. Gone from the bed less than a few minutes and she was already missing his comforting presence.

It didn't help her anxiety that the dark bedroom was so quiet, it made it even less inviting and she was glad that she would not be alone in it. It gave her pause that somewhere beyond this doorway someone was indeed waiting for her and not just anyone.

She approached the bed half worried he had gone but she needn't have bothered. He was still there, content and semi-smiling, his chest rising and falling without a care. She had seen him sleep many times in the warehouse but not like this.

This was different and she was fascinated by how he was unable to stay still and how he bunched up the pillows until they were mashed against the headboard and yet those things only made him more handsome and younger in her eyes.

Without that furrow of worry marring his forehead, she could see what she'd been avoiding.

Somehow she had fallen for him and she'd been hiding it from herself but here in limbo, the secret didn't matter. There were no more suspicious looks from Arthur or knowing ones from the rest of the team to guard against.

It was just her, and if she could play it out here then by the time she was able to return, Ariadne wouldn't have nothing to worry about and she could let him go.

She longed to reach out and tug on the insistent curl that dangled over his forehead but she dared not. If she gave in to that there was no telling what else she'd do. It was already a struggle to remind herself that he wasn't really hers regardless of her epiphany.

Ariadne didn't want to grow too accustomed to him.

A bit of moonlight filtered into the room and rested across his face giving it an even more angelic appearance. He turned his head to hide from the light but not before his hand had patted the mattress where her body had been earlier.

Her smile withered as the wedding ring glinted in the light.

It was mocking her from the very hand that had drawn her attention to his action, overshadowing the oddly sweet notion that he was searching for her even in his sleep.

**'****The real Dominic doesn't wear his and when he did, it was only worn in his dreams.'**

Her carefully constructed landscape began to crumble and the building shook with the force of it.

The room shifted and the kitchenette and bathroom were obliterated. The other bedroom folded in on itself and merged with what was left of the back wall.

The outside balcony crumbled and plunged the chairs and table into the earth below.

The furniture all began to fall apart. Colors bled into the carpet leaching it as well. Fabrics burst at the seams and ripped into strips until all that remained were piles of rags. The heavier pieces withered and grew smaller until only shavings remained which were then lifted into the air and sucked out into the storm raging outside their window.

She had stood in the middle of the chaos willing her thoughts back into order but she had been unable to slip back into the illusion that kept her going since first finding out she was in limbo.

So she numbly sat in a chair that had materialized with the intent of reining in her turbulent emotions so as to repair the room and set it to rights but of course the more she tried, the worst it became.

Outside the wind changed and buffeted the rain into the windows. Endless droplets slid down the glassy exteriors and fell into room. The sea itself was like an ink stain with no light reflecting of its surface and it extended its fingers ripping at the structure of the hotel.

It was rising and crashing violently, eating up everything in its path and leaving nothing but more ocean behind.

Her instinct to protect them from the elements propelled her to slam the windows shut but they stood suspended in the middle of the air supported by nothing and with rain running unchecked around them.

The rain pelted her and drenched everything else in the room. She pushed back her sopping hair only to find her hands streaked with blood. She touched the top of her scalp and pulled out a shard of glass that had exploded from the one of the many other windows behind her.

Desperation rose up in her throat as she attempted to be calm and remember that she controlled the environment and that if she started everything that was happening it could also be stopped the same way.

That was how he had woken up and found her, sitting on the chair, cold and gulping air.

"I'm here. I'm here."

She felt more than saw him and that alone dissolved her hysteria.

His hair was plastered to his face and his clothes were soaking wet but he looked at her like she was all that mattered to him. "Deep breaths, take deep breaths," he coached.

This was why he was here, to comfort her and it did, slowing the howling rain to a quiet tinkling.

They were still in the middle of the room with only the bed and chair as the sole survivors of her breakdown.

"What happened?"

She shrugged shakily, "redecorating. I hated everything."

He wiped at the blood on her face with his sleeve wordlessly accepting her answer.

"I've always loved ocean views," she said leaning against him.

"This is a good one but maybe you should rest a little more before you do any more decorating."

She allowed him to lead her off the chair and hold onto her as she worked out the tingles crawling up her sleeping leg. "I'm not normally like this. I'm not this person that falls apart."

Dom turned to look at her, "everybody has a breaking point."

She tugged from his loose hold and moved to the other side of the bed, to her side. "I don't, not in this way. I…" Face averted she gained enough control to rebuild. Crude walls and windows grew out of the floor replacing what had been there moments ago.

She concentrated and a few scones pushed from the walls giving the room a warm glow.

"Better?"

She didn't respond and he didn't push her. He instead propped up a bunch of pillows and sat against the headboard, his gaze on the waves visible through the windows not more than a few feet away. He didn't look at her as she sat at the edge of the bed with her body mimicking the earlier position on the chair. "What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing. I'm just at my breaking point, remember?"

"I'm not a threat to you. I'm just here to help you and I'll leave whenever you want."

She uncurled her legs letting them dangle over the side of the bed. "I don't want you to leave."

"You don't?" he sounded surprised. "That's good. You know that I would never harm you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm incapable of it."

"Because I made you that way right." She said bitterly.

"I suppose. I don't think he'd want to hurt you either."

"You don't know anything about him."

"I know what you know."

She scoffed, "meaning, you know nothing because I know nothing."

"Meaning that I am the perfect companion. What you want is what I will always want to do."

"Always?"

"Do you think I'll disappear, Ari?"

"It doesn't really matter if you did. You're not real. What difference does it make?"

"I guess it doesn't but memories can be tricky. Don't forget everything he taught you or what it means."

Just because she was falling apart didn't mean she had to give up all her secrets. No matter how she felt right now, Ariadne had no choice but to make due with what she had and she wasn't going to get anywhere if she told him everything. "I know," she said.

"Don't get too used to this." He encompassed the room. "Its only until we can break you out of here."

She gave no reply. **'What could she say that wouldn't show her weakness?'**

The last thing she needed was her subconscious looking at her with pity. She still had some dignity.

She got up and lifted the blanket to move back into her spot, which he was hogging. He moved over but definitely not enough to give her adequate space.

"Scoot."

He shook his head and crossed his arms daring her to move him. "You said you didn't want me to leave."

Exasperated at this odd behavior she ignored him and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible in the small space he did give her. However she soon realized that wet jeans and equally drenched top were not conducive to sleep.

So she was forced to get up and slip of the offending garments. She was all set to climb back in but it occurred to her that getting into the bed with him wearing just her panties and bra seemed way too personal and might give him the wrong message.

Hidden by her hair, she snuck a glance and was shocked to see that his eyes were closed.

"Dom?"

He didn't respond. She put her knee on the bed, "Dom?"

Still nothing. **'He couldn't have fallen asleep that fast, could he?" **

She gently crawled stopping short of his legs. "Dom, come on. Nobody falls asleep that fast." She sat back on her haunches and poked his stomach. No movement.

Risking her luck, Ariadne placed one hand on the headboard and balancing on it, reached over and moved aside the lock of hair that had been teasing her all night. She didn't want to stop there.

His mouth was slightly open as he slumbered peacefully.

**'****Why am I doing this?** **What if he wasn't really asleep and he was just pretending. How embarrassed would I be if he caught me looming over him while I'm wearing nothing but my underwear?'**

She sighed and sat back exhausted suddenly by the night's events and her role as architect. Even with everything that happened she was drawn to him. Her eyes took in every one of his features and wondered at how much she must have studied the real Cobb to be able to bring him with her and with such detail.

It would be so easy to let go and just kiss him. To feel him pressed up against her but he wasn't here for that and it was because of this longing of him that she was stuck here in the first place. She'd been unable to let him go back to his family and away from her.

And though she could probably make him do anything, getting involved physically with a shade was a slippery slope to navigate. She could easily get lost here if she gave in to her more primal urges. Sure he would be able to give her what she wanted but if she did sleep with him, Ariadne would always wonder if it was the same as in the above world.

The guilt and shame she would feel when and if she saw the real Dominic again would tear her apart. She would never want him to know that she had taken advantage of their friendship and keeping the secret of it happening would cost her in other ways.

Sitting there for what seemed like eternity she thought carefully about what to do and decided to practice her skills and change things. It was something she had done when she was stressed in class and couldn't focus. She'd visualize a place or item and would concentrate on it until she could twist and change its very existence in her mind. It would calm Ariadne and she'd be able to continue without getting distracted again.

She closed her eyes, thought about her clothes and to her delight she saw that her technique still worked. The rules of limbo seemed to be that there were no rules, at least not that she had found.

She fingered the _"who me?" _tank top and men's sweat pants, very pleased with herself. The room had changed along with her and now sported the same amenities it had before. Though these were all now her style with perhaps a touch of Cobb still thrown in.

Not one second later a decidedly wicked idea popped into her head, maybe just this once she'd try something more daring.

**'****After all he was asleep right? What harm could it do?'**

She closed her eyes and pictured the closet back in her dorm. She mentally opened the armoire that housed her more dressy clothes rummaging and discarding clothes in her mind's eye.

She huffed in frustration.

Ariadne knew what she wanted but couldn't picture it to save her life. She opened her eyes again; he was still asleep so she closed them and inhaled. Once more she came upon the armoire but this time she gave the door a quick thump. Something fell from within it and she reached in for it.

In her hand was a pretty light blue nightgown.

It was fairly simple with just a wide strip of white fabric as decoration, it came under the chest and tied in the back to close the garment. It came down to just about her knees and would have been downright modest if it hadn't been for the fact that it was sheer.

She had bought it on a whim and never worn it. She'd been too embarrassed to ever show it to her girlfriends and her one semi-serious boyfriend, Mark.

She had been drawn to it because of the color and the only reason she had thought about it now was because she was sure it would be a near identical match to Dom's eyes.

She briefly considered waking him up to see if she was right.

She was curious to see if his eyes would darken in appreciation but the image of Mal crossed her mind and deflated the brief fantasy as she remembered the exotic beauty that had been his wife.

Dom was probably to use to that kind of barely there under things and her self-preservation wasn't in the mood to see disappointment.

Besides no matter how talented she was, Ariadne couldn't fool herself into believing it really was him and any reaction would be what she willed and that kind of pretending was the easiest way to lose all concept of what was real in this world.

She'd have to be more careful about entertaining those kinds of thoughts in the future.

She changed her clothing back to her tank top and men's sweats and prodded him awake. "Hey, you're gonna get a crick in your neck sleeping that way."

He squinted at her and removed the pillows until he was flat on his back and fell back asleep.

She lay down beside him restraining her hand from reaching up and pulling at the little curl that had flopped back over his forehead.

His arm instinctively encircled her and she realized that he was wearing the suit from the airport and it was wet. She didn't think he could get sick but she wasn't going to risk it. Until she explored further he was all she had.

Ariadne sat up and closed her eyes for a second then re-opened them to check the results. Gone was the rumpled outfit from earlier. He was now dressed in black silk pajamas.

He filled them out nicely but they made him look too stuffy so she waved them away and they dissolved into the bedding. Her faced heated as he was left in nothing but his skin and she was damm grateful the sheet went no lower than his stomach.

She again thought deeply but she didn't know enough about him to know what he would sleep in. Figuring that something was better than nothing, Ariadne settled for drawstring sweats and a Notre Dame college t-shirt. He looked even better than in the pajamas and they really fit him, at least her version of him.

She grinned to herself and wondered what he would say when he woke up in the morning.

She had barely closed her eyes when she heard that distinctive timber, "good Morning."

Ariadne popped an eye open. "Morning?"

She tried to rollover but her body was being held against a much warmer one. "Where you going?"

"G..going."

"Yeah, you know as in the opposite of staying, in our warm cozy bed." Dom explained pulling her a little tighter against his hard chest.

"Our bed?" she asked. She hated how much she was sounding like an airhead.

"Um…bathroom."

"Oh no. The room doesn't need any more remodeling." He said not releasing her.

"Remodeling?" she must have really not gotten any sleep because she had no idea what he was talking about. The scene from last night flashed past her eyes and she rolled over onto the pillow.

"That really happened. I did all that?" She groaned into the pillow.

She was pulled out its warm softness as he answered, "I'm afraid so. I gotta admit it was very impressive. I liked how you kept the windows standing in mid air, that was a nice touch."

"Shut up. I feel stupid enough without you rehashing it in detail."

He grinned and let her go and she yanked the cover over her head to further hide. "Fair enough. I just have one question and I'll be quiet about what happened."

Ariadne threw off the blanket and shot out of the bed. "Alright, go ahead. I know you won't stop until you've had your say."

"I wouldn't have pictured you for the type but do you always wear lingerie to bed?"

"Lingerie?" she repeated and with great horror looked down at herself.

Ariadne hightailed it to the bathroom before he could say anything else and slammed the door. "It's ok, just pull yourself together and remember that none of this is real. It's not like that was the real Dominic that saw you in nothing but…" she took a deep breath, "get over this then you'll be able to talk to him like a normal human being."

She pounded her head against the door, "oh what am I doing? I'm talking to myself about talking to myself. I'm cracking, that's all there is to it."

"Ari, do you want me to call room service and get breakfast?"

"If you want. I'm not really hungry." She shouted back.

"You looked very good in it. There's no need to be embarrassed." Dom said through the door.

"I'm not. I just feel stupid, wow I've been saying that a lot lately, haven't I?" she asked miserably.

She hated how he insecure he made her feel. How she was unconsciously searching for his approval. She had never been this invested in another's opinion and she detested what hidden truths about herself, he managed to pull out.

"Let me get you something to eat, you'll feel better after. I promise."

She could picture him on the other side of the door holding up his hand in scout's honor. "Are you getting something too or is it just me?"

"I'll get something too."

"Ok, then um…I'd like a bagel and hot coffee."

"That's it?" he asked. "That's not much of a breakfast."

"Don't worry about it."

It was absurd how worried she was about inconveniencing him but then a lot of what had been happening to her lately was absurd.

**'****Hadn't I just spent the night cuddled in his arms?'**

She peeked out and spied him ordering room service. She slowly came out of the bathroom as he hung up the phone unaware she was standing right behind him, "they'll be up in a few minutes."

"Did I really look good?" she asked and he turned to answer her.

His eyes widened, "did I say good? I shouldn't have used that word."

Her face was burning but she resolutely looked him in the eye. "What word should you have used?"

He had seemed so far away when he was on the phone but now he was directly in front of her. She could literally feel his eyes roaming up and down her body, "beautiful."

She never moved but she didn't have to. He was in charge.

Up and through the layers, lying on a bed, Ariadne's real body arched up and flopped back.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur said running to her side.

"She's creating. She's building in limbo." Cobb and Miles replied.

"And?" Arthur asked.

"It means her mind is letting go and her body is dying." Cobb answered. "We have today and maybe tomorrow. After that it will be suicidal to find her."

"Suicidal?" Arthur was not handling this new development well and was sure to start trying to plug himself in if they didn't stop him.

"She'll forget who we are and fight us."

Eames said what Cobb could not, "like Fischer Jr. Her mind will be militarized."

"Dear God," Miles said.

"Stephen," Cobb knew how powerful her mind was. "I have to go in. Today." He was afraid of what she was building. The others would be going in blind. He couldn't let them.

Especially Arthur. "Alone."


	9. Chapter 9

**I have been waiting impatiently for my deluxe Inception dvd to arrive. The wait drove me a little nuts and I couldn't write to save my life (or Ariadne's) **

**Thankfully it finally got here today and man is it beautiful. It came in a silver case identical to the case that the PASIV machine is in. I even got a totem. (yes I have spun it repeatedly)**

**Anyhoo, even though its short I decided to post this one but I will post chapter 9 1/2 hopefully tomorrow. (If I'm not up all night watching the movie over and over)**

**For the record I adore Arthur but he is hard to capture properly. (I apologize for the butchery of the character, hangs head in shame)**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

Ariadne cupped Cobb's face. "I have never thought you unstable."

Dom frozen in her grasp managed to say, "you don't…"

Arthur had volunteered to do anything to get Ariadne back but not this. He wouldn't condone this. "That's it. This dream is over." Arthur spoke up and shot himself.

As soon as Arthur sat up cradling the side of his head, Miles asked. "What happened?"

"I shot myself." Arthur answered.

He knew that Miles would see that the time on the PASIV was not up yet and knowing the point man as he did, that only something going really wrong would have made him put a gun to his own head.

"Why did you...did something happen between Mal and Ariadne?"

"No, well yes. I'm not sure," he was still so shocked as to what he had seen that his brain was still processing it and therefore much too busy to answer anything with too much detail. "She didn't act like she did the last time. Cobb is right about that."

He had no idea that the lobby of the hotel was to be their starting point. If he had he would have volunteered his own mind. He hadn't been there since Dom had called him and told him that the police were taking him in for questioning about his wife's suicide and he had hoped never to see it again.

Beside that grisly detail it had been a fairly standard dream share until both Ariadne and Mal had showed up causing the conversation to take a bizarre twist.

He had cycled through confusion then annoyance and then finally amusement as he realized that Eames was Ariadne. He had obviously been told to forge her so as to check if Cobb was as reliable as he claimed to be now that he had supposedly tamed his dead wife's projection.

The amusement was short lived when he saw how Cobb was affected; though it was possible he hadn't realized yet that it was Eames and not really Ariadne, Cobb appeared happy to see her.

His face lost the perpetual tiredness of the last few hours. It was almost like he wasn't carrying as much guilt as before and when she had touched him; Dom had eyes only for her.

At first he'd chalked it up to Dom's visible relief of having a living breathing Ariadne to see and hear, one that was not in limbo because of him but her sudden nearness clearly confused the serious man.

He wasn't only happy because she was ok and Arthur was sure neither Cobb nor himself wanted to put a name to what it was. Their whole interaction had been a shock and Mal showing up and being supportive of it was apparently odd only to him.

She had been the charming beautiful woman he had remembered and not the repressed version they had all grown to fear. She talked as if they were strictly meeting for a pre-job celebration as they used to. However Arthur saw that this Mal had a bit of a mean streak hidden in her charm.

She made comments that were full of malice, particularly the comments about Cobb being Ariadne's first and how greatly she must have benefited from his skills.

She also hadn't been bothered by the so-called connection between the younger woman and her husband. She had all but encouraged it, baiting Arthur into bringing up their ages until Ariadne had snapped at him and Dom had surged to her rescue.

Arthur had forced himself to say nothing, to not react but the little seed of suspicion was planted and grew through out the remaining conversation until it had gathered around his every thought. **'What had been going on between the Architect and the Extractor when the rest of the team had gone home? What had bonded her so tightly to the blond haired man that would make her risk herself as she had?'**

To his highly logical mind it would difficult for them to work. There was the ten years between them and more than just their ages was the fact that they were at different stages of life. She was just beginning one while he hadn't even begun to mourn the one he had lost.

Were it not for what Mal and Eames had been implying during this experiment as well as what he'd heard and seen so far for himself, he would have found the whole thing to be a ridiculous rumor.

Arthur soon realized that Dom was hiding how he felt so deeply that only his subconscious knew about it, that's why Miles had insisted they do this before going to look for the girl.

Miles had clearly had his suspicions about their relationship and told no one. Feeling very used he had decided to talk to Miles before the others. That was what had prompted Arthur to get out.

Witnessing that intense longing that had surfaced all over his friend's face over the girl that he, Arthur had begun falling for, and one that Cobb was clearly not aware of, had been no picnic either.

He could handle a mild flirtation or even them screwing around but love…he couldn't handle that again. Dom had barely survived his last encounter with the emotion and it had been heart gutting to see what had become of Mal.

**'****What of Ariadne? Was she as far gone as Dominic? Was her being stuck in limbo an indication of how she felt? Do I even have a chance with her if we manage to get her out of limbo?'**

He had no clue not even one inkling about her feelings towards him or his more enigmatic best friend. He'd hoped that it had just been a typical Eames act by putting forth ideas to tease Mal but somehow he doubted it.

"Arthur, I'm asking you to tell me exactly what occurred in the dream share?"

So instead of answering their old professor Arthur focused on pulling out the cord gently and placing it inside its case with care. "Ask them. Apparently there are a lot of things I wasn't aware of until now. Your little experiment worked. I think he's becoming more aware of her."

"Whatever you saw was strictly to provoke Mal."

Arthur snapped, "no, it was done to open Cobb's eyes. Don't patronize me, Miles. I may be a lot of things but stupid is not one of them."

"Understand, that if she doesn't get out she'll be gone and in much worse fashion than Mal."

Arthur stiffened at her name.

"It was hard on all of us. I trust I don't have to remind you how hard it was, with Ariadne; there will be no closure. She'll be a vegetable."

"I go in with Cobb. I go all the way down. That's the only way I agree to this." Arthur countered.

"Agreed but you get to tell Dom," Miles said and moved back to his seat to continue monitoring Eames.

Before he could respond Cobb woke and rose out of the chair to talk to him. "Arthur," Cobb said but he was already walking away.

He didn't want to talk to his best friend right now. He needed time to adjust and prepare for the job. This type of distraction would be exactly what could get them all stuck down there permanently.

"Arthur, wait!"

He should have continued walking and ignored the calls behind him but Arthur had a hard time saying no to Cobb. That was something their entire team had in common.

"Yes?"

"Look, what happened was just a test. It was made to provoke Mal. Nothing more, nothing less." Cobb assured him.

"Really, just a test? I'm not sure which one disturbs me more, the fact that Miles said the exact same thing not more than a few minutes ago or how cozy you and Ariadne were a few moments ago in the very same hotel where your wife took her life."

"That was Eames, not Ariadne-"

Feeling weary Arthur just brushed him off. "Look, we go in ten minutes. I have to prep Saito before we go in. This conversation will have to wait."

All he wanted was to do this job, get her out and move on. He had to research Ariadne's past, which was no easy task, very carefully so as to not make the same mistake he had made with Robert Fischer. He didn't need another nasty surprise like the last time.

He noticed Eames and Miles watching their little spat with interest, it was rare for him to get angry at Dom and show it and it was no doubt baffling his friends but at this moment he didn't care that he'd left Cobb standing in the middle of the room running a hand exasperatedly through his hair and feeling like an idiot.

For once he was going to be the hero and get the girl.


	10. Chapter 10

**OK, its late but at least its before the week is up. I count that as good. All mistakes are mine. I hate automatic spell check.**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

After a bit of wandering around the grounds to cool down, Arthur reluctantly sought out Saito. He found the man sitting in his study, his dark head bent over papers. "May I come in?"

The businessman put down his pen and politely motioned him in. "Please do, how can I be of assistance, Arthur."

Arthur looked inside double-checking that Saito was indeed alone before he went in and closed the door. "Saito, I need to prep you for the dream."

"Why not at the platform or is there something else you require of me that needs privacy? I was under the impression that Mr. Miles would be accompanying you on this journey, is it not the reason he was sent for?"

"Yes, it was supposed to be Prof. Miles but a few things have changed."

Saito leaned back in his chair. He looked at the closed door and shrewdly eyed the young man. "You do not trust him."

Arthur shifted uncomfortably, "it's not that simple."

"Arthur, I'm afraid that it is. Either you trust him or you don't. This is a very delicate situation. As I told Mr. Cobb before, he must choose his team wisely. Do you feel he hasn't?"

"He has. I do trust Miles-"

"Ah, so it's Mr. Cobb you do not trust. Is he still having trouble dreaming?"

"He's resolved that problem."

"So he has gained another then." Saito left his chair and walked casually to the window. "I believe Mr. Cobb will do what is necessary of him. He is an honorable man."

"But?"

"But honorable men are the most fragile. Perhaps it will best if I helped and came along. I will be well guarded and since this is my home, the stability of the dream will not be compromised."

"Miles can be the second layer leaving Eames as the third. Yusuf can stay up here monitoring the sedatives and he can set the kick from here."

"You have your solution. When do we begin?"

Arthur looked at his watch and stood up. "We should start in now, are you ready?"

Saito smiled serenely. "I am always ready but will you be prepared for whatever you may find as you search for Miss Ariadne."

"It's limbo, unconstructed dream space. What could we find down there besides whatever was already there?"

"From what I have learned of her, she will not be content with ruins. She will have built to please her creativity and her desires."

Arthur was caught on his last word. "Desires are nothing but unfulfilled fantasies."

"As someone who has been there for many years. Limbo fulfills every fantasy by simple existing. That is a gateway to something else. Guard against that."

On the other side of the grounds Cobb, after his fight with Arthur, had left the room in search of a less crowded place. Though the workspace that Saito had provided was generous beyond what Cobb had anticipated, it still felt claustrophobic.

It was too full of all the reasons this could fail; specifically she was in it and her presence alone filled the room. So he had wandered past their workspace and out into a terrace that overlooked lush manicured gardens. He breathed deeply enjoying this rare moment of freedom from all his responsibilities, real and imagined.

"So you and Arthur having a lover's quarrel, then?"

Alas, he knew the moment could not last. "You're not a very good tail, Eames."

"I wasn't trying to be inconspicuous."

"I don't think anybody could ever accuse you of that." Cobb said his eyes never wavering from his private vista.

"Do I detect a hint of anger? Less than five minutes to retrieve Ariadne and you choose to pick a fight with Arthur and me? That little dream scenario really did a number on the both of you didn't it?"

Dom didn't bother denying it, "something like that."

As much as he would like to blame it on Eames for being an insensitive jerk, Dom could no longer hide his irritation with his point man. He couldn't con himself into saying it was because Arthur was just being his usual cautious self and was worried about the mission.

When Arthur had argued with him, it had been personal. As if Dominic had stolen something very valuable from him, something that he wanted back.

"Something like that? Are you seriously this oblivious? I didn't think I had to tell you that Arthur being jealous is a very bad thing; once we're in his dream his projections can become more violent because of it."

In the ensuing conversation, Arthur had more than implied that he felt something for the girl and that Dom was overstepping his bounds but how those bounds pertained to his friendship with Ariadne baffled him.

Surely Arthur would assume that he would feel happy when saw her again. Since it would mean that she was ok and they had completed their task.

That whole idea of course had gone out the window when Eames had showed up. Sure Dom was prepped, Miles had warned him that some form of the Architect would have to be there to ascertain what threat Mal really was.

Apparently Arthur wasn't informed or hadn't expected for Mal to target him instead of her husband as she did. Truthfully, Dom had been taken aback by how it had played out. He knew he would have to defend himself and close ranks to protect Ariadne.

He had said no more than a few words to her when Mal showed up as predicted.

She was polite and for a moment it was as if he was seeing his real wife again but he had let his guard down and he'd barely managed to grab Ariadne's hand and stop her from drinking the offered champagne.

Mal had looked hurt for a second but then her frown changed to a smirk and she proceeded to make many insinuations. Insinuations that recalled in detail how a tiny and slim brunette had been wrapped around his body while the streets of Paris burst around them.

He had been ready to defend their closeness to Mal not Arthur and he had expected Arthur not Mal to be on his side. It had all gone screwy and now Dom didn't know where he stood with the man who had stood up to Cobol alongside him.

That disturbed him greatly. At their worst disagreements there had never been this level of antagonism between them. They covered for each other in the past but this job had strained them to the limit and was proving that there were some things that he and Arthur couldn't share.

Adding to his difficulties was how he would deal with seeing the real Ariadne. Knowing that Eames would be forging her in the second level, per Miles instructions, was supposed to make it easier for him to find her. Eames hadn't stuck to the rules and instead Dom had to deal with the consequences of the forger's actions.

It hindered him in keeping out that little voice in the back of his head. **'What does it mean to you that she remained behind?' **

The one that sounded remarkably like Mal. **'Admit it you like to see those shinny brown eyes looking worried about you. You missed their gentle admonitions, the way they scrutinize you to making sure that you're ok. She makes you squirm in a good way when she acts like you're the only one that matters.'**

"I didn't tell you to forge her did I? And I certainly didn't go out of my way to piss him off."

Ariadne was certainly attractive and if he was a few years younger and single he would have made a play for her but as they stood it would be impossible to be with someone else given his circumstances and he certainly did not want to recreate any of the memories he had with Mal. It wouldn't be fair to either one of them.

He hadn't divulged to anyone that he liked how her hands, warm from being wrapped around her coffee cup, had held onto his arm when the glass had thrown them from the table. How the adrenaline had shot through him and he'd leaped the stairs in anticipation of what she would create next. It had been like his first time all over again.

"I forged her because it was the only way you would understand."

The triumphant smirk Mal had given him when she mentioned the dream sharing and its abilities to bring people closer was a cheap shot because she of all people knew how true it was. He could hide his reactions from Ariadne but Mal was his subconscious and she knew what made him tick.

It was one of the many reasons he hated when she used their life previous to dreaming against him. She knew where and how to hurt him.

They had started seriously dating after her father had begun training them in dream share. He mostly picked her up and they visited her father at the university or they would stay and build complicated labyrinths at her house under her mother's watchful eye.

The first time they had dream shared alone had changed everything. The ability to create instantly without borders or any restrictions had been an aphrodisiac for the both of them. They had barely made it out of the building.

In fact they had made it as far as the parking lot. He had been unable to look at Miles for weeks after that. Afterward when they married, Miles had given Dom a miniature of his car and told him next time to turn off the indoor lights or close the doors all the way.

Mal had found it hilarious and once in a while she'd tease him and finally talk him into revisiting old times and they would make out like teenagers in the shadow of her father's university.

"I do understand."

"Do you? Then why did Mal say all those things? Why did you react to her touch like you did? Why did you get so angry when Arthur suggested that you two could not be together? Why, Cobb? Tell me."

"I don't know, goddammit. I have no fucking clue, ok. All I know is that Mal is messing with my head and I don't need to deal with Arthur's insecurities. If he wants Ariadne he can have her, I just want to go back to my kids. That's all I know for sure."

"Dom, you of all people deserve some happiness and I get that it's hard to admit that just maybe this slip of a girl has done what you thought was impossible."

Dom shook his head, "I can't drag her down with me Eames. She's so young, there's so much that she has to learn and experience. She can't do that with me around. She's got a life ahead of her that shouldn't include children she'd be too young to have."

"If you want nothing to do with her or how you feel about her then it's your life."

Eames gripped Cobb's shoulder in comfort, "the only way that you will be able to have peace of mind and be with your kids without carrying around any more guilt than you already do, will be to get all of us out safely this time. No goof ups or heroics. If something goes wrong we leave. We can't risk anybody else if this goes bad, can you accept leaving her behind?"

"I won't leave her there, Eames. I can't."

"You can, you have two children that have not seen hide or hair of their father, Ariadne choose to go with you, nobody forced her. It seems strange that you would be willing to stay there with her if you don't love her."

"She jumped for me."

"What?"

"She was the one that remembered we had gone down for Fischer."

"What does that have to do with what we're discussing? Wait, she jumped? What did she jump of off, never mind just explain."

Dom looked at the confused Forger, "when we got there, it was too much to see what had become of everything Mal and I had built while we'd been trapped there. I forgot what I was there for as we saw more and more of our crumbling memories. When we got to the house where had lived, Mal was waiting for us."

"What did she do?"

"She sat at our kitchen table and tried to confuse me. She tried to convince me this was the real world but I knew she was lying."

"How could you be so certain?"

"Like you said, I carry the guilt with me. It tells me my reality better than any totem. Anyway I gave up trying to explain but Mal was persistent. She wanted to know why I was so sure."

Eames sat there puzzled, "I don't understand."

"Do you know why I took Saito's offer, besides the money and my children."

Eames thought about it and stared at Dom as it came to him. "You had already done an inception. You knew it could be done. That's it isn't it?"

Dom began pacing back and forth. "I had performed an inception on my own wife. I gave her the idea that our life there was not real and the only way to escape it was death. We made it out of limbo but the idea grew and festered until it took over her mind and destroyed us."

"Where was Ariadne during all this?"

"Ariadne was standing right beside me, listening with this horrified expression." Dom closed his eyes. _'What is she talking about?' Ariadne whispered._

"You can't blame her it was a natural response to the news. I mean I would-"

Dom cut him off, "You're misunderstanding. She was horrified at Mal. She was horrified that Mal was trying to keep me there in a place that didn't exist until I went mad because she didn't want to be alone. She had come down with me and was expecting me to find Fischer and get to the kick before Saito died but I was still too wrapped up in the projection of my dead wife to be of any use to anybody."

"So how did you snap out of it and she find Fischer?"

"Mal's personality withered when she found out about the inception. It made me see that she could never equal my real wife and the feelings I thought real had died with her. So I made a deal that I had no intention of keeping with Mal. I told her I would stay behind, with her if she told me where he was."

Eames chuckled, "bet Ariadne protested to that."

Dom nodded. "She told me I couldn't stay with her. You should have seen her, I thought she was going to take on Mal herself if she tried to keep me."

"That certainly would have been interesting."

"Once she verified that Fischer was there, she pushed him off the building."

"So that was his kick, smart girl."

"Mal then stabbed me when I told her she wasn't real. She would have stabbed me again but Ariadne shot her."

"Sound like the pair of you had quite the adventure. Then?"

"We heard the lightning."

"Must have been when I shocked Fischer up on my level. What else?"

"I told her to leave. Here we were with this world and everything in it was tearing itself apart. The wind dragged her and all she could think to do was to hang onto the edge, yelling at me that we were gonna miss the kick, that I couldn't stay with Mal."

Eames now fully immersed in the story waited patiently for Cobb to finish. "I told her I wasn't, that it was probable that Saito had died already and he would be down here. So she told me to find him, not to get lost and she jumped."

Dom faced Eames with his hands in his pockets. "Do you understand now why I can't even entertain the concept of Ariadne, even if I wanted to?"

"Why did you start your story with that? With her jumping, what's the significance?"

"She's afraid of heights. She confided in me one of the many nights she stayed behind working. She said she liked to build areas with lots of floors and stairs to remind herself that the fear didn't control her."

"She put herself in harm's way for someone she barely knew. What will she do for someone she loves? That's what you fear. Losing her like you lost Mal."

"She's not mine to lose."

"If she jumped then why didn't she come back with you?" Eames asked changing the topic.

"I don't know. As far as I knew I thought she had made it out. It wasn't until the plane that I saw that she was still asleep."

"We assume that she has been down there for twenty minutes but in reality we don't really know. How will that affect her?"

"I have no idea, she could be building. She was very curious the first time but that was with the two of us there. Alone it would drive anybody insane. I mean Saito had grown old and kept a compound with armed guards but then he is a very strong man. Ariadne could still be young and have made another Paris down there, an eternal student for all we know."

Eames looked unsatisfied by his answer but he really didn't know all the rules of limbo or if it even had any. "You're saying we're walking in blind."

"Yes and no. You and Arthur and Miles will be the three above layers. I'm going on to get her. I'm going in blind." Cobb said grimly.

"Cobb, that's ludicrous. You can only get lucky so many times. Three times is pushing it."

"I got her there, I have to get her back."

"Dom, can I ask you a question and promise that you'll answer me truthfully?"

"O.k." he ventured.

"Did you ever kiss her or have any other type of physical relationship?"

"No, Eames I didn't but why everybody keeps asking is beyond me." Cobb muttered.

"Well let me give you this scenario. Pretty young girl meets interesting and slightly wanted man." Cobb raised his eyebrow at the description but Eames ignored it, "who is smart and charming and let's face it, very easy on the eyes, takes her from the boring palace of academia and shows her a new way of looking at the world.

"It wasn't like that, you're making it sound like I seduced her." Cobb insisted.

"You did in a way. Humor me, here's another one. Man with tragic past allows girl to stay around all the while she begins to take on jobs that aren't part of the Architect title."

"Like what?"

"Coming on a job that she was explicitly told she wouldn't do. Keeping an eye on you and generally being used to keep Mal at bay."

"I never…"

"Dom, you showed her things that cannot be replicated in the real world. You let her be your personal psychiatrist and in the end she was the one who helped you defeat what had kept you from being a great Architect. Did you expect her not to grow attached to you after all that? Did you honestly think that all that time together would lead to nothing?"

"I never meant to get her involved."

"I know that but you did. If you have any feelings for this girl that aren't brotherly then you need to own up to it before you put us and yourself in harm's way."

"Cobb, Eames, it's time." Arthur spoke from the doorway not glancing at either of them.

"Let's go."

The dream platform as the area was being called was a large square with the bed where Ariadne lay at the side. Beside her lay several lounge chairs with the PASIV machine in the middle.

Arthur had the layout of the various levels on another table and was showing Miles the schematics. Yusuf was measuring out vials and then handed them each one.

"Change of plans," Arthur announced. "Saito will be the first level instead of Miles so Miles can be second layer and Eames the third."

"Shit, why do I always end up in the third bloody layer?" Eames complained loudly.

"That leaves Cobb and I free to go into limbo after Ariadne." Arthur explained glaring at Eames.

Dom would have said that he was not gonna let Arthur go down there but in that moment, the woman on the bed arched up and flopped back onto the bed.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur asked running to her side.

"She's creating. She's building in limbo." Cobb and Miles replied.

"And?" Arthur asked.

"It means her mind is letting go and her body is dying." Cobb answered. "We have today and maybe tomorrow. After that it will be suicidal to find her."

"Suicidal?" Arthur was not handling this new development well and was sure to start trying to plug himself in if they didn't stop him.

"She'll forget who we are and fight us."

Eames said what Cobb could not, "like Fischer Jr. Her mind will be militarized."

"Dear God," Miles said.

"Stephen," Cobb knew how powerful her mind was. "I have to go in. Today." He was afraid of what she was building. The others would be going in blind. He couldn't let them.

Especially Arthur. "Alone."


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, I know it took a while but I was having difficulties trying to figure out how to showcase the different layers.**

**Here's hoping it makes sense. A couple of scenes from the video are finally making an appearance.**

**I'm so excited!**

AmeliaBaggins: I am working on an Eames/Ariadne one shot for you. I'm sorry its taken so long. I have a really hard time writing her with anybody but Dom. Sorry!

* * *

Miles, Eames, Cobb, Saito and Arthur all lay down.

"You're not changing the staging now, Arthur. I don't care what you want, this isn't about some conquest. This is about getting her out." Cobb hissed from his chair as Yusuf put on the final touches and pushed the button.

LEVEL ONE – Yusuf's Dream

"Why are we even talking about this?" Eames asked completely bored and looking around the spacious dinning room. At the head of the table sat Saito and to the right of him, was Arthur looking perfectly classy in a black suit and to the right of him, was Dom in an equally impressive suit impatiently drumming his fingers on the table.

"Shut up, Eames." Arthur warned.

"He's right. We don't have the time to be messing around with the layers. The order has been decided already. Yusuf will now be first layer obviously, Miles and Saito can stay in this dream and you can still be third layer as long as Arthur goes second."

"I already told you. I go with you all the way down or you go in without us." Arthur threatened.

"Arthur, its too dangerous for more than one…"

"I know that, where is Ariadne again?"

Cobb looked down for a second and Eames could tell that Arthur was not going to play it nice. "Cobb, what Arthur means," he glared pointedly at the younger man, "is that you will have your hands full with Ariadne. If we go to Limbo with you, there's a better chance of all us coming back without further issues."

"You're coming with us?"

"Yes, Dom. Daddy Miles insisted and before you protest it's either I go or you don't. Your choice gentlemen."

Sensing the brewing argument Saito quietly mentioned, "I was there for many years. How long was I out in real time and how long has Ms. Ariadne been gone, Arthur?"

"You and Dom were both asleep for at least two additional hours."

"And Ms. Ariadne?"

"She's been there for twenty minutes and in limbo that's several days." Arthur answered. Saito nodded making mental calculations.

"We have to get her out now." Cobb demanded.

"Now, I'm rubbish at math but she's been there for twenty minutes when she was on the plane but with the unloading and the drive here and up to now it's been over two and half hours." Eames clarified.

"Then let's not keep her waiting." Saito said rising from his chair and opening the double doors. The inside of the room was an exact replica of where Yusuf had kept his dreamers in Mombasa not too surprising since the Chemist had been talking about his lab since he had arrived at Saito's home.

Saito and Eames inspected the area and found Miles already waiting for them. Yusuf was checking on the sleeping projections. Clearly everybody was aware of the tension between the two long time friends and were taking steps to give them time to work it out.

"Let me go after her," Arthur said quietly.

"_Wake me up. Cobb, wake me up. Wake me up."_

"I'm going with you. She's in there because of me." Cobb replied.

"This isn't a way to absolve your guilt, Dom. This is her sanity we are talking about. She could remain comatose inside her mind. You could very well push her further."

"I know that." Dominic shouted exasperated. "I know but I have to go, Arthur. I have to. She would have gone for me. She did go for me. I can't abandon her now."

"What if we can't bring her back?"

"That's not an option."

"Gentlemen, its now or never." Miles said.

Saito waited until everybody was hooked up, everybody but Cobb. "You'll have total privacy here. I will make sure we are taken care off."

Cobb nodded and sat down on the makeshift cot. He began to insert the line-

"_This doesn't concern you."_

"_You asked me to share dreams with you," she said._

"_Not these."_

"_Why can't you go back?" She asked._

"_Because they think I killed my wife."_

"_Thank you."_

"_For what?" she asked._

"_For not asking if I did."_

"_I'm coming with you," she demanded_

"_No, I promised Miles."_

"_Fine, I doesn't have to be me but then you need to show Arthur what I just saw. He needs to know what you are dealing with."_

"_Get us another ticket."_

"_Cobb, she isn't real," she begged._

"Cobb? Cobb? Are you alright?" Eames asked getting the extractor to his feet.

"What happened?"

"You put the line in and then you just fell over and passed out." Arthur stared at Miles. "You can't pass out in dreams. Its not possible, its too much of a risk on the brain, I thought that was what you had said… you said..."

"Arthur calm yourself. Let's give Mr. Cobb time to gather himself."

Dom got up and was lead away by Saito. Eames could only watch helplessly. "Do you suppose he knows what is going on in that head of his?"

"Of course not, Eames." Mal whispered from behind him.

LEVEL FOUR - Limbo

"Beautiful, Ariadne. You are so beautiful," he whispered.

She leaned into him, her eyes never leaving his whiskered face as it came closer, "Dom?"

"Can I kiss you? Should I kiss you?" The hotel dissolved around them gradually. "Should I let you fall deeper?"

"You don't need to do anything, can't you tell that I already love you, Dominic Cobb?"

"Don't say that, please." He said it painfully, regretfully.

"I do." She insisted.

"I'm not really…Ari. Stop we have to stop." He stopped the soft kisses and the hands that had begun to roam over his lean torso. "This will make it more difficult later."

"Difficult?"

"To leave you. This will only make it harder for me to let you go, when he comes for you."

"And if he doesn't?"

"He will. I would, but you know that. You know, don't you Ariadne? Ariadne! Ariadne!"

Cold, clinging and wet, it surrounded her and pulled her back under. It yanked at her hair with fingers of foam and drove sharp shells into her fragile skin, marking her. Abusing her for daring to touch someone that doesn't belong to her.

Not even here in her mind.

"_What are you doing here?" _

"_My name is-"_

"_I know who you are. Why are you here?"_

She sputtered as she struggled to gain footing in the sand beneath her.

"Ariadne! Ariadne! Answer me!"

"Dom! Dom! Do-" she swallowed a mouthful of water cutting off his name mid scream. She kicked and was hauled out of the water same as before. His hands dug into her armpits until she was pulled upright long enough to move out of the roaring waves.

They collapsed on the sandy beach both panting and trying to breathe out as much seawater as possible out of their collective lungs. "Thanks, are you ok?" she managed.

He shakily rose onto his feet and extended his hand out in response. "What happened? Where did the hotel and everything else go?"

"I got rid of it." She said pulling off her wet red jacket and throwing it onto the beach.

"On purpose?"

"Accidentally, I was thinking about going away and then it was gone."

"Why?"

She wrung out her hair then shook it out. "I don't know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just make it disappear though I guess its probably not a good idea to stay somewhere for too long. I don't want to get used to anything. It will make it easier to find my way home that way."

She discarded her scarf and threw it onto her jacket. "Let's go."

"Starting from scratch?" he asked removing his own sodden coat.

"Yeah, I don't have to worry about your hostile subconscious here."

"Not mine but you're right you need to build. It will keep you occupied," He replied.

She starting walking and the towering buildings began to thicken. Mortar and stone jutted out over their heads and the buildings got shorter and squatter. They grew balconies and red bricks sprouted over their surface. They changed colors becoming brighter in the shinning sun.

"Don't recreate from memory." He cautioned.

"I won't." But all ready the cobbled streets and fruit vendor carts dotting the landscape looked familiar.

"Ariadne," he said warningly.

"Relax. You said I could use bits and pieces. I am."

The empty roads were now full of empty cars parked at different curbs. People began to walk out of random shops that now lined the street they were walking down. They got on the sidewalk and a beautiful silver BMW flashed past them.

"Nice." He commented.

She smiled and continued walking. Her leading and him following close behind. Some of the facades changed from red to a light butter cream with blue spires. She abruptly stopped and tilted her head up.

The city was folding again, Ariadne watched as her nondescript streets morphed into a familiar bridge. She felt his hand slip into hers and her bridge swung over the river and fell in. "You never made it out."

"I'm all alone?" she whispered tightening her fingers around his.

"No…you have me." He said and motioned her to look down at their entwined hands.

"I have to do this on my own. You can't bail me out every time I start losing it." She said turning onto a dead end street. She kept walking and ripped right through the wall. They emerged onto a central restaurant district.

"Come on, this time I know how I got here." She said and led him to a tiny café with a single solitary white table and two chairs. He sat and she called for two cups of steaming black coffee and a plate full of eclairs.

"This looks-"

"This isn't a memory."

"It's not?" He said.

"Yeah, that table had a tablecloth. This one doesn't. That one was in a crowded café, this one is totally deserted, that one-"

"I get the concept."

"Good, cause I'm hungry and I haven't had my coffee yet. Did I mention that I get cranky without it?" she asked pouring three sugar packets into her cup.

"I figured it out." He replied and stirred his own.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been down here?"

"Time is relative here. You can age or choose not to. It can be day all day or you can have night and various seasons. It all depends on the Architect." He took a sip and looked up at the gathering storm clouds that had just appeared.

"It feels like I just got here." She dropped her eclair back onto the plate. "I want to go home."

He got the pastry, broke it in half and handed it to her. "I want you to go home too."


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, I know I promised last weekend but you know how I mentioned I lost the chapter. Well when I was re-writing, the story went somewhere different and I had to tweak it. I also had to take into consideration the video and the ending of it. I screwed up on that and I've had to change some of my original story lines to fit with it but I like them better this way. So it's all good.  
**

**I will post a companion piece to the Only Exception but this one will be from Arthur's point of view. I was inspired to show you why Dominic was jealous and what Arthur and Ariadne's relationship really was. I am throwing in another twist like its companion. You'll have to read it. (hint, hint)**

**Thanks for all the reviews and not losing total interest in this story. (The next chapter will be all about Arthur and Ariadne, you've been warned.) **

**Sorry for the long note. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

**LEVEL ONE - Yusuf's Dream**

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Eames asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Cobb answered.

"Oh, Dom. You always did have a knack for ignoring the obvious." Mal commented as she wandered into the bathroom and propped herself up on the sink right next to the one Cobb was using.

"Go away, Mal." He sighed and splashed his face again.

"They say that arguing with yourself is a sign of madness, do you agree, Eames?"

"Isn't not the arguing part that I'm concerned about."

"What are you concerned about?' Cobb asked.

Eames helped Mal down from the sink and shooed her out the door. "I'll find out soon enough, see you in the next one." Mal said and waved her fingers at her husband.

"Cobb?"

"Since when are you two so understanding of each other?"

"With Ariadne gone under, somebody else has to take the therapist role. Besides I'm helping with her objective or should I say your objective."

"Hers." Cobb snapped.

"Projections don't have motives other than the ones given to them by their owners."

"Do you have a point or do you just intend to keep on rambling on. We still have two more layers to go."

"Just be careful, they have no idea what they've opened themselves up to."

Saito called out. "Eames, Cobb."

Eames left the bathroom and Dom took one last look in the mirror and dunked his head.

"Cobb?"

The extractor coughed up a bit of water as he hastily wiped at his face. He had thought Saito had left along with Eames. He pushed back the dripping strands and faced their benefactor.

"Can you do this?"

The concern on the business man's face was so uncharacteristic that Cobb had to wipe at his eyes just to make sure that he wasn't just seeing things.

'_Can we do this?' Arthur interrogated Cobb once Saito was on the phone getting another seat. 'I thought you said she wouldn't be coming along?' _

_Ariadne had rushed to her apartment to get at least one bag of clothing._

'_I need her…these levels are complex. Its better if she is on hand.'_

'_This thing with Mal, how bad is it?'_

'_It's not bad. I wouldn't risk the girl if I were concerned. You know that.'_

'_Ok, but once we get back. Make sure she does no more jobs.' Arthur shrugged on his coat as they stepped into the airport car._

'_She's strong, Arthur. She's not the one I'm worried about.'_

'_Fischer will be quick.' Arthur waved and he got into the second waiting car with Yusuf. Eames and Saito had already gone on ahead. Cobb would be riding in the third car with Ariadne._

'_Cobb, are you sure you can do this?' _

_This was the second time that question had been directed at him. He sat back against the seat and contemplated it. He wanted to reassure her and say, 'Yeah, it will be no problem as long as I don't know the layouts, ' but he couldn't say that. _

_He was taking a massive risk. _

_Mal didn't need to know the layouts to jeopardize anything. She hadn't known them when they had Saito in the second layer and look how that turned out. __**'But Ariadne is better than that schmuck, Nash. She wouldn't screw up a carpet.'**_

'_Cobb, I can help if you let me.'_

'_Make sure the designs are correct.' He answered brusquely wanting her to sulk into silence, as he'd seen her do with Arthur, her silence would quiet the warning bells going off in his head._

'_You said Architects don't normally go in, right?' Ariadne was definitely in the mood for chatter but he wasn't and she wasn't going to force him to divulge any more of his secrets. 'Arthur said your last architect, Nash, did. So what else did he do?'_

'_He did nothing else and he wasn't even that good of an architect anyway,' he responded in a bid to get her to shut up. He didn't want to think about anything now._

_The distractions wouldn't help them. 'Look, this job is very difficult. Inception is almost impossible to do and for it to grab hold and the idea to really stick, we have to be concentrated on nothing else but this, got it?"_

'_What aren't you telling me?'_

'_I'm not hiding anything, you saw to that.'_

'_I'm trying to help.' She said flopping against the plush seat._

'_Its not that I'm not happy that you know, it's a relief but I don't want to talk about it now and you were the one that wanted to come along. If you're uncomfortable with anything you can always walk away. Nobody is forcing you to stay.'_

'_Nobody is forcing me to stay?' She was starting to loose her temper he could tell. Her hand motions were becoming more energetic as she talked and she had moved from her lounging position to sitting up against him. _

_Any minute now she would be sitting on top of him if she continued in this vein. _

'_Damm right I wanted to come along. After what I saw it would have been criminal if I hadn't. To let the rest of the team go with you with that thing unleashed, you better believe that if you hadn't gotten me a ticket, I would have gone directly to Saito and told him everything.'_

'_Don't talk about her…'_

'_She doesn't exist. She is not real and you acting like she is keeps her alive and angry. I'm trying to help you and you keep fighting me and I'm beginning to wonder whether you really want to resolve your problems or if you're just going through the motions.'_

_He glared at her even though he knew she was right. He didn't know how to let go of Mal and sometimes he wasn't sure he wanted to. This shade was all he had left of her and if this didn't work he'd go to jail for the rest of his life with nothing but her for company. _

_She was his back-up plan and she was also a stumbling block for him to get home for real. He hated that Ariadne had read him so damm quickly. _

_They got to the airport and already he could see the rest of the team getting their luggage tagged. Ariadne hopped out and tried to yank out her suitcase at the same time. 'Damm stupid thing.'_

'_Ariadne, its-'_

'_I hate traveling and I hate airports and I don't hate you right now but I don't like you either.'_

'_-stuck, the bag is stuck.' He had his hand on the wheel of her suitcase, which had gotten tangled with his bag's handle. 'Stop pulling and I can—'_

'_I don't need your help.' She got back into the car and knelt on the seat. 'Move your hand. I can get it easier, my hand is smaller,' She snapped and pushed his hand away. _

_He managed to get the fabric straightened out but it still wouldn't budge and thanks to her anger she had shoved his hand into the metal underpinnings of the seat._

_He scolded her, 'Ariadne, I almost had it. If you weren't so damm impatient." _

'_I'm not your kid, Cobb. Besides its my bag.' She muttered._

_He sighed. 'It's my bag too, and you're taking too long. We have a plane to catch.' _

_She glared at him from beneath her hair and went back to fruitlessly tugging on the offending piece of luggage. 'I'm not trying to spend more time with you, Cobb. I can't get this fucking thing to move.'_

_His phone went off, it was Eames' number. He didn't bother answering. Instead he went around the car to her side and took the strap from her hands. She looked at him, huffed the hair out of her face and gracefully climbed back out of the car and stood at the curb._

_He saw her wipe at her face but he said nothing. He gave the bag one good tug and it came loose. He grabbed his bag and closed the door. He handed Ariadne her piece as he stepped up on the curb._ '_I'm not trying to be difficult but if you worry about what is going on with me, then you won't focus on the job and we need at least one level headed person on this team.'_

'_We have Arthur, what more do you want?' She was accepting his apology._

'_You have nothing to worry about. If anything she'll come after me. I'll take care of it. Just do what you're good at,' he hoisted his bag up higher on his shoulder and took hers._

'_I can carry-'_

'_Let me for treating you like my kid. I'll give it back when we get to the appropriate terminal.'_

'_I don't see how this doesn't treat me like one.'_

'_A gentlemen carries a ladies bag if he is able to. I don't see you as a kid, Ari.' The nickname slipped from his mouth and she turned curious eyes on him. _

_Thankfully the mouth of the terminal was in view and she didn't have time to say anything as the rest of the group spotted them._

_He handed back her bag and their hands touched. Her hand was small but in no way was it childlike. Her fingers were the callused one's of an artist. Given what she was studying it shouldn't have surprised him._

_She let her hand linger on his and for one second he felt less alone. 'If anybody asks tell them we got a call from Miles.'_

'_Why Miles?' he asked slipping his hand out from underneath hers._

'_I'm waiting for word of my transfer. I decided to spend summer classes here.'_

'_Oh, ok.'_

_They were about two hours early but even though Saito owned the airline, the rest of them still had to go through security. Well not Saito so he carried the machine in another suitcase. _

_Ariadne was behind Dom and he watched as she carefully taped her name to her suitcase. She put it beside the others and sat down near the windows. Dom grabbed his stuff and stood by where Saito was._

'_If I get on this plane and you don't honor our agreement, when we land I go to jail for the rest of my life.'_

'_Complete the job on route. I make one phone call from the plane and you have no trouble getting through immigration.' Saito assured him._

_They began calling for boarding and Ariadne got up and walked past them. She looked at him worriedly and he knew that she had overheard._

'_Design the labyrinth,' she said._

_He nodded._

_She walked behind him but still close enough to be heard, 'what happens when they do?'_

'_When who does what?' _

'_When an Architect goes into the field?'_

'_If they go in less than a handful of times, nothing.' He said now standing to the side to let Saito and his security pass._

'_If its more than that?'_

'_Too much space, too much that can be recreated. It corrupts and in Architects, it can deceive.'_

'_Oh. Is that why you said you promised Miles?'_

'_Yes but that's not all.' He hung back keeping an eye on the gate. Fischer's detail was just finishing loading up Maurice._

'_Cobb, what else did you promise?' _

_They weren't supposed to know each other and this very conversation could tip off the rest of the team to how unstable his landscape really was. He had to get her mind occupied on something else. 'That you would never do dream share after this. That I would make sure that I made it clear to any of my old contacts to never hire you.'_

_He patted her shoulder and pushed her forward, she was caught up with Saito's men who moved her quickly into the gate. He waited until Fischer was almost in front of him then he boarded. _

_He came in and she didn't even glance his way. Arthur sat directly behind Ariadne and Saito sat in front of her. Eames was behind him as planned. _

_Perfect. If anything were to go wrong, Arthur and Eames would be able to hustle her out the plane before she realized that something was wrong._

'_I'll take care of it.' _

But he hadn't.

"Cobb?"

Dominic blinked and the plane melted away to reveal not the pale face of the Architect but the serious one of the Tourist. He shoved his hair back and walked past Saito.

He didn't have to explain anything to anyone. He was there for one reason and one reason alone. He was going to complete his task. The sooner they got out, the sooner he could go home.

'_I promise, she'll never do dream share again Miles.'_

'_Dom.'_

'_I need her.'_

'_I know you do.'_

By the time he got back to the sleeping room, he had recovered his aura of authority; this was what made him such a good leader and extractor. He could hide turmoil easily. **'Except from her.' **

"The next level will be rockier and we might be chased by Saito's security."

"I apologize in advance." Saito muttered.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready," Cobb confirmed and fell back onto the cot.

**LEVEL TWO - Saito's Dream**

It was very bright and the ocean was much closer than they had anticipated. "Well that's just great. I wasn't expecting to ruin a good set of clothes."

"It's a dream, Arthur. Shut up!"

"I'm sorry if I am conscious of my attire."

"Your attire?" Eames taunted.

"Stop bickering, I'm sure Saito has some perfectly good clothes in his compound."

"Aren't we to avoid Saito?"

"Eames, you and I run interference. As long as we don't change too much we should be fine. Miles and Arthur get to the back of the compound. The rooms there will be our next place."

They split up and immediately they ran into the guards. They seemed to recognize Cobb and were less forceful than the last time but they still pointed the way with their guns.

**LEVEL FOUR – Limbo**

"A Library?"

"The Library of Congress."

"It's not-"

"Just bits and pieces. Also a little bit of the Harvard Library, I've always had a thing for libraries." She grinned as she led him to the glass elevator and to the third floor.

"I like the glass."

"It's bulletproof."

He frowned but she didn't let him dwell on it. As soon as the doors opened she tugged him out of it. "Come see."

They passed several ceiling to floor shelves filled with what looked like first editions. Most of them leather-bound, "I'm a voracious reader but you already know that."

Having a walking, talking, breathing, Dominic everywhere with her was still weird and she kept forgetting that he was a shade. It had been three days since her last breakdown. The walk through her makeshift Paris had been a bad idea and after their pastries she had run off leaving him at the table.

He found her sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean. She had been lost in her thoughts and all she could focus on was the shape of the rocks below and the crashing spray splashing her legs. He had asked if she was ok.

She told him no and he sat next to her and they spent half that day just staring at the horizon until the sun sank below the waves and a brand new full moon rose up into its place. The moon had always been a comfort to her.

Having been named for a Greek princess, she had read all the Greek mythology that she could get her hands on and had loved the idea of the Goddess of the Moon, Artemis standing with her bow, which made up the crest of the moon, and her faithful stag beside her as she shot stars into the sky.

Ariadne had pretended she was the Goddess, especially after she had read what had happened to the princess of Crete. It had made her feel as if she was protected and not abandoned when she had nowhere to go.

Dom had said nothing when she had told him all this. He had pulled up a blanket decorated with stars and wrapped them around them. He had suggested a clambake and she had built a portion of beach protected by a nice inlet with lots of clams and firewood all around.

They had eaten until their stomach hurt and then banked the fire so that it gave off a gentle glow. The weather was mild and they had lain on the blanket and took turns identifying constellations. He had fallen asleep with his head on her lap and she had stroked his hair until she too had begun feeling sleepy.

Their days had quickly followed a similar pattern. She would run away and he would find her and then suggest something to do. Sometimes she had an idea and they would follow it until they were both exhausted.

Most of their days included the beach in some shape or other. They both knew that when he showed up it would be near the water.

The second day had started with breakfast of burnt poached eggs and a hearty laugh at her cooking abilities. After their usual game of hide and seek had found Ariadne inside the famous Seattle Space Needle restaurant, they had relaxed with the beautiful spinning view of their world.

Every quarter turn showed a different city.

The famous Italian steps complete with world famous fountains. The ancient pyramids of Mexico standing side by side the Giza ones.

He built the Parthenon and Island of Crete in her honor and she built the Emerald Isles in his. Then just for fun, what they assumed the Hanging Gardens of Babylon might have looked like at their peak.

He wondered aloud is she had ever been to these places and she had replied in the negative but of course he already knew this. It was his way or was it her way of keeping her from feeling like she was crazy for talking to herself.

That day after lunch they had strolled down to beach and played on the dunes and watched the sun set. Again they ate on the beach but it was a dinner of exotic cheeses and meats from all over the world with several bottles of very expensive Boudreaux.

She had woken up with a headache, under the pier and wearing a very skimpy bikini that looked vaguely familiar. Dom had been equally achy and he'd been surprised to see her in so little. Whatever happened after the third bottle was obviously not remembered by either of them. They left it at that.

So now they were on their third day and already breakfast had consisted of a cream cheese filled bagels with very black coffee. She had run off while he had his taken his first sip and she laughed as he yelled that it wasn't fair that she never chased him.

She was found quickly and they explored the buildings around the makeshift Washington D.C. The giant shelves gave way to an annex with one corridor that lead to a door twice the size of the ceiling of the room they were in now.

"If you laugh, I will never speak to you." She warned.

He held back the grin and held up his scout's honor. "So open the door already."

She pushed the doors but it was pitch black. "Close your eyes."

He did and she ran in and threw the curtains open. "Come in."

He opened his eyes and she grinned at the look of delight on his face. "Does that make me the Beast then?" he asked.

"I always wanted to be Belle. She was smart and pretty and Gaston annoyed me." She replied and sat in one of the many armchairs that decorated the room.

"Nice detail. I like the crown moldings and the shelves are mahogany aren't they?"

"Figures, I'd have to fall for an Architect." She muttered picking up a copy of the Trumpet of the Swan. "I bet our kids are gonna try to design their nursery."

"I'm sure they would."

"I'm joking."

"I know." He continued exploring the rest of the room and she sat with the book in her hand unread. **'Could she really have a life with Dominic Cobb, the real one? Would he really want to have another child? Would his children be ok with a stepmother that did the same thing their father did? Would it remind them too much of Mal?'**

As much as she had learned about him during the inception, she was still very much in the dark about his family life. **'Would he want to share his kids with her? Would he even want to see her again after having to risk himself to get her out?'**

Ariadne had already resolved to get herself out with or without his help but she wanted to work out her issues with him and her family and come out of Limbo better than she entered.

She knew that she could create a shade and she was pretty sure she could create more projections. It was dangerous what she was planning but the catharsis of talking to her parents again and her Aunt Kate would not doubt be beneficial and it could help fix this habit of digging into other people's lives.

"Ariadne?"

"Yeah, how about we go and have a walk around? Show me what else you made."

She put the book down on the chair and followed him out the doors. As they walked he held her hand and she leaned into him. It was then she saw the mark on his collarbone.

**'****It looked like…it couldn't be? Could it?'**

"Dominic, what's on your neck?" she halted in the middle of the street and a Volkswagen angrily honked at them then went around.

"A hickey, Ari."

"A hickey? Why you do have a hickey?"

"I have one because I gave you one and you said it was only fair to give me one back."

"Did we? That night?"

The look on his face could only be called crushing. "No, Ariadne. We haven't slept together."

"Dom, you know that I…" what could she say. **'I want to so badly but you're addicting and I'd never be the same if I did that.'**

"Come on, you promised to show me around. This is your world."

She didn't like how he had said that. He was right it was her world. Her rules. She could do what she wanted. And she wanted him more than anything. Cars continued to honk at them but she didn't care and she eventually let him move her onto the sidewalk.

"Ari, forget what I said."

"I can't." He had already forgiven her. She could tell because he only used her full name when he was angry with her or he was worried.

"Why?" he said running a hand through his hair.

"Because, its not fair to you." She caressed his growing stubble and brushed her cheek gently against his. Then with her eyes open, Ariadne kissed him. It wasn't hesitant or lust filled, it was just a simple kiss.

"What was that for?"

"I love you and I don't want you to forget it and I don't want to forget either." This time he kissed her and she held onto him like she had wanted to in the waking world.

**LEVEL TWO – Saito's Dream**

"What are you doing here? Mal." Cobb asked exasperated at seeing his shade standing at the edge of the patio.

Eames noticed Saito and he moved to talk to him.

"I know why you're here." She sing-songed.

"I don't want to play games. Just tell me what you know."

She grabbed his arm and draped it over her shoulders until her head rested beneath his chin. She tapped the glass of his watch, "tick-tock. Hurry she's growing tired of waiting."

He pulled his arm from her grasp and stepped away. "Stop with the riddles and cute little moves. Tell me what the hell is going on? Tell me why you're back? Please Mal. Just tell me, I'm so tired of all this."

Mal for the first time lost her coy little smile. "Follow me."

He left the balcony and followed her into the compound and down several corridors until he came to a room that overlooked the ocean. He walked in and she closed the paper door. "She has been down there three days and every one of those days she has looked at the ocean and dreamed of you."

"Of me?"

"Dominic, she loves you. How can you not see it? Why do you think I attacked her so savagely?"

Dom approached the window and looked back at the dark ocean. "I can't love her Mal. I still love you, I'm barely mourning you."

"You will always love me and you've been mourning me for two years but that doesn't mean you can't love another. Search yourself, trust me you are what keeps her there. And if you don't change you'll be the reason she stays there. You don't deserve that and neither does she."

"I'm trying, I swear that I'm trying. Do you know where she is?"

Mal looked at him. "She's not alone, you know."

"I don't care," he answered.

Mal gazed out the window and at the moon. "You will," her voice echoed ominously.


	13. Chapter 13

**Look an update. A miracle, I tell you. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**SECOND LEVEL – Saito's Dream**

"_My subconscious seems polite enough."_

"_Ha ha, wait. It'll turn ugly. No one likes to feel someone else messing around in their mind." The projections gave the pair a cursory glance but none moved out of their routine._

"_Cobb can't build anymore, can he?" _

_Arthur stopped at the bluntness of the question._

_He knew that sooner or later Ariadne would start asking about Mal. Of course he had hoped that Cobb would've been back from Mombasa by then so that he wouldn't have to deal with her questions himself but he was surprised by how concerned she sounded about a man she just met and claimed to dislike._

_She was still so new to the dreaming concept that he didn't want to spook her away with tales of what happened to dreamers who lost their way. She was one of the most gifted Architects he'd seen in a long time, not counting Cobb, and finding another one so late in the game would be down right impossible. _

_He should have been able to just brush her off but she was so innocent in their ways that he found he was torn between his loyalty for Cobb and his newly formed worry for her. "I don't know if he can't but he won't. He thinks it's safer if he doesn't know the layouts."_

"_Why?" _

'_**Was she being obtuse on purpose? Surely she would understand that even if he wanted to say something, he could not in good conscience divulge any part of Cobb's past without his say so. Why was it she wanted to know so badly? And was is it really just professional interest on her part?'**_

_Cobb had warned him that she was too clever for her own good and had a way of persuading information out of people. 'When she comes back have her build mazes and be careful what you tell her. Give her only information she needs. Nothing more.'_

'_I don't think you need to worry about that.' _

_Cobb gave a rare smile. 'If she wasn't so talented in design, I would have considered making her my protégé. She has a talent for making people talk.'_

'_Not as good as you though.'_

'_Her tactics are different.'_

'_Would you even want to train her as both?'_

'_No. I wouldn't want to her to turn out like me. She's too honest for that. As for training her as an Architect, there isn't too much to teach, it be more guidance than anything else. She is a natural, Arthur. I've never seen anybody pick it up so fast. The real world wont' be enough for her anymore.' _

"_He won't tell me but I think its mal."_

"_His ex-wife?" _

_He was so taken aback by her assumption of what Mal's relationship was to Cobb that he didn't filter his answer as he normally would have. "No, not his ex."_

"_They're still together?" It was Ariadne's turn to be surprised._

"_No, its…" Arthur stumbled for a tiny second._

_**Mal laughing. Throwing her arm around his shoulder and calling him darling in that endearing purr. **_

_**The two of them discussing the best way to gather information and comparing notes while Cobb laughed at the antics of his two dearest people.**_

_**She having an espresso while he drank a black decaf as they waited for the umpteenth time for Cobb to get back from meeting whichever new client they were schmoozing. **_

_**Her spinning the top over and over and the bloodshot eyes that hadn't seen decent sleep in a month. **_

_**The late night phone call that shattered everything he had come to depend on. **_

"…_she's dead. What you see in there is just his projection of her."_

"_What was she like in real life?"_

'_**How had Cobb projected Mal in there?'**__ "She was lovely."_

_Ariadne bowed her head. "I'm sorry." She said and he wondered what exactly she was apologizing for and to whom. _

"_There's no need. Projections are a combination of the real person's personality and how the person dreaming about them sees them or relates to them. You had no way of knowing that and I'm sure that her reaction to you was instinctual."_

"_Instinctual? Why would she want to harm me? I just met her."_

"_Because you are a threat to her in some form or at least Cobb has made it look that way. Whatever he thinks is manifested in the shade. It is his subconscious."_

"_He did say he couldn't control it when I asked him to calm his projections down."_

"_That's true. The most he can do is divert them away or distract them but that isn't a guarantee of your safety. They usually kill the subject last and only after they've gotten rid of the dreamer in a violent fashion. What did you do to set them off?" _

"_Nothing much at first. We just walked along while he explained the basic functions of my job. He seemed pretty laid back until we hit that bridge."_

_What she was telling him was alarming. Cobb had always had a very powerful mind and the Mal presence was ruthless and cunning. Two traits that Cobb had tried very hard to not embolden while on the run. If Mal was gunning for her it could only mean that Cobb had even less control than he thought and had grown careless._

_She shifted uneasily. "I rebuilt the café and what he had done originally. We talked about the nature of extracting, the subconscious and how it protected itself."_

"_That's it? It seems odd that she would attack based solely on that," he mused. "And you didn't do anything else?"_

"_I did turn the city on itself."_

"_You shifted the gravity of the dream?"_

"_I lifted part of the city and flipped it so that it was overhead then Cobb and I walked onto the inverted side."_

"_He didn't stop you?" Arthur questioned._

"_He warned me that if I kept messing with things so obviously that they would notice but I ignored him."_

_The timer went off and he turned off the music leaving the warehouse completely silent. "He didn't stop you until after you built the bridge?"_

"_He didn't stop me at all. Should he have?"_

"_Yes, it was his responsibility as the first Architect to guide you and if you don't follow the rules of the dream then it's his job to end the dream." She sat in her chair quietly waiting for him to finish what he was obviously still thinking about. __**'Cobb had been curious. He had let her dictate the dream. He had only ever done that with one other person.'**_

"_What happened after you put up the bridge?"_

"_He asked me if it was a real place. I told him it was and he said he knew it."_

"_You're not supposed to recreate—"_

"—_From memory. I know." She bit her lip and looked sideways at him. "He said building from memory was the easiest way to forget what was real and what was a dream."_

"_Then?" He prompted._

"_I asked him if that's what happened to him and he got mad and said that it had nothing to do with him. He grabbed my arm and we began to argue and a crowd gathered and begun to pull us apart-" She struggled to push out the rest of the words and Arthur waited patiently to ask anything further._

"_She came out of nowhere. Just parted the crowd-"_

_Arthur slid out of his chair and returned with a glass of water. "Here drink this, it will help."_

"_-he tried to help me but he was held back and I screamed for him to wake up me, I screamed-"_

_She gulped down the water and he soothed her absentmindedly. He had thought what she was recounting had been bad enough before but for Cobb to actually get physical was unheard of, especially with a team member. _

_Even he had barely seen that side of him and when it had appeared it involved fooling the mark in some way and that was uncommon as well. Cobb hated the violent nature of the job and tried to suppress it at every opportunity._

_As she continued talking Arthur recalled how her body had begun convulsing on the chair, how her mouth had opened and closed soundlessly. _

_It had been a long time since he had seen a waking nightmare in their business and they were never pretty. He had knelt by her side in an effort to quiet her but Cobb had also been struggling and he had actually been shouting, "Ariadne. No, mal no!" then slumped back into stillness._

_He looked at the younger woman and he could see her eyes shine with unshed tears. Her hands were clasped onto the chair with a white knuckled grip. "He kept trying to reach me and then she came up and her hand drew back and…"_

"_It's ok, I know the rest. You don't have to tell me." He uncurled her fingers from the chair and made her drink more water. Apparently there had been a lot of rare events since these two had gotten together._

_She put down the glass and turned to him, one hand slipping into his. "I don't understand, Arthur. She had such hate in her eyes. Like if I was doing something that only she had done before, it was as if I was stealing him from her and sometimes I can't got to sleep without still feeling that knife twisting in my gut and hearing him shouting."_

"_Can you still dream?"_

"_Yeah but I don't remember too much of them anymore and there have been times when I wake up in a sweat screaming for him to wake me up."_

"_This is serious, you need to tell Cobb and-"_

_She jumped up from the chair splashing them both with water as she kicked over the glass. "No, if I tell him he won't let me continue. He's already having second thoughts about having me along and what I'm doing. He thinks I'm too raw."_

"_He hasn't said anything to me."_

"_He doesn't have to. I can feel it. Anyway talking about it helped and well I just need to shake it off, right? I mean once you get used to dying I'm sure it's not as trauma inducing."_

"_I don't know. I still flinch and I've been shot in the head over a dozen times."_

"Arthur is it time yet?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you ok? You seem distracted."

Arthur shook his head, "I'm fine. Just concerned. We didn't do so well the last time we were all together."

Stephen patted the young man on the shoulder. "Apprehension is natural. We just have to stick to our plan and hope we don't have any mishaps. Have they given the signal yet? This sand is not the most pleasant substance and the water is getting a little cold."

"Right." He peered around the corner glad to have that moment to recollect himself. He had to be more focused than usual and these memories of Ariadne were doing exactly the opposite. Thankfully they had gotten to where they were supposed to be and from where they were hiding he was able to watch as Dom and Eames were halted by Saito's security as planned.

They heard Eames and Cobb talking to the gun toting men, who clearly recognized Cobb. The security urged them up a narrow road that no doubt led to the main building of the compound.

"They got them, let's go." The two men inched down the slope that would lead them to the hidden area built into the base of the cliff and into the network of caves that made up the third section of Saito's home.

Arthur and Stephen had to stop and press themselves up against the outer wall as more security guards thundered overhead. He pointed and they crept toward the back of the structure where it met the waterline. Their next location would be just within the inlet.

Cobb had designed all the levels in Ariadne's absence and Arthur had to admit that Cobb, despite his reluctance to build again so soon, still had it. He could still create and the two years he had been away from it had not diminished his talent in any way.

They went deeper into the caverns hitting a fork in the elaborate caves. A right turn and twenty paces later saw them straight to the entrance that had been cleverly hid into the rock wall. Arthur pressed and a door slid open revealing a set of stairs leading directly into the lower portion of the compound.

"We go up and to the left, Dom should already be there waiting."

They reached the top part of the wall slid it open and emerged into a spacious storage area. After concealing the secret entrance, Arthur drew out his piece and quickly searched the corridor. "Clear," he said motioning to Stephen to step out of the doorway.

Whatever ruckus Cobb's return was creating worked wonderfully to their advantage. Arthur shot only one projection and ducked out of sight of another before finding the room where they would go under again.

The point man swept the room and Stephen found the case and gave it to Arthur. They began arranging furniture and pulling out the wiring for each of the three men. "You'll have to keep the guards away until Eames and Cobb get here once I go under."

"You're not going alone, we wait for Dom and that Eames fellow and then you go. That was the plan." Stephen said resetting the timer.

"Well the plan has changed. Cobb is not here and time is wasting. She needs us down there. I need to be down there now."

"Why?" Stephen asked and stood holding the cords in his hands.

"Why?" Arthur parroted noting that Stephen had put himself between the machine and him.

"Yes. Why? Give me one good reason why I should let you go on alone into a place you know nothing about to rescue a girl you have no connection to."

"Why should I?" He asked eyeing the one remaining cord that was still attached to his skin. "Did you make Cobb give you a reason when he told you he was going down there alone for a third time? Did you ask him how she had gotten tangled up in his memories of Mal? Did you make him give you a reason when he told you he was pushing to go deeper than three levels with your only child?"

"Do not bring up the past, it does no good to dwell on it."

"Dwell on it," he sneered. "We are reliving it thanks to Cobb. Why do you think he wants to get to her so badly? I'll tell you why." He said not letting Stephen answer. "Because as with Mal, he entranced her."

He looked again at the man that was separating him from Ariadne. "He allowed her to tag along and she found out his darkest secret. A secret he never shared with me. Me, his oldest friend but he shared it with her, a stranger he'd known for all of three months. That is why he wants to go. Not because he feels responsible but because he knows he is. Are you ok with that because I'm not!"

"Arthur, whatever happened has nothing to do with your friendship with him. Dom has always been the type to hide his turmoil, you know this better than most."

He knew that he was allowing his emotions to blur what he had to do but it had hurt how quickly he'd been relegated to lackey when she had entered the picture. Suddenly it was her he turned to for support and not him. "If that is true than how did she become his confidant? How did she break him down enough to know what was going on?"

"Ariadne could have bullied her way in. She can be very persistent." Stephen said consoling him. "That's what makes her so good as an Architect. Her devotion to a vision."

"Cobb would never allow anybody to bully him and even if she had, it couldn't have lasted for too long. How he sees her goes further than manipulation. I know him; he wouldn't look at her like he does if that had been the case. Something went on and Cobb is hiding it. He'll only hurt her if he doesn't come to terms with it. I want to go down there to find out what happened between them and maybe give her a way out that doesn't include him."

"Is he so bad for her?"

'**Why him and not me? Why is everybody always concerned with him?'** Arthur thought but said, "I want to say no. I want to say he deserves a second chance but I can't honestly stand here and say yes. Her vision of him is flawed. He is my friend almost a brother but she…"Arthur was unsure of how to describe the complicated emotions he felt when he saw them together.

"She will have to make own decision."

"I know that but she has no idea of what that entails, "Arthur snapped. "Can't you see that she is acting just like her? It's Mal all over again and I'll be damned if I let her destroy herself while I do nothing. I've already done that Stephen and I am still feeling the effects of it."

"You couldn't have done anything. None of us could have. You need to let that go and forgive both yourself and him or you'll alienate Ariadne with that bitterness. She is not Mal. Ariadne is stronger that my daughter was."

"Are you sure? Will you bet her life on it?" Arthur knew he sounded cruel and he hated to be the kink in this mission. He knew that Stephen was right to a point. He hated that his being at odds with Dom made him want to hurt the older man. He hated that he still harbored this crush on Mal and made him glad to see her even she was only there to threaten him.

He hated that he had finally begun to let go of Mal only to have someone like Ariadne walk into their lives, and remind him of why he had fallen for the french woman to begin with, her with the naïve idea of helping the most dangerous personality, her of the brown hair and even browner eyes that seemed to see into him and past him at the same time.

He hated that he'd broken his own rule and dallied with her and kissed her and longed for more of it when her gaze had clearly been following their leader every time the man opened his mouth. That she had covered for him when the train had almost gotten them all killed.

"Let me ask you something, are you going in to save her or are you going so you can get back at Dominic for having Mal?"

"Am I that transparent?" He rubbed his temples tiredly, he was sick of arguing a point he was never going to win.** 'I should have called him out on it. I should have stopped him when I saw him whispering with Yusuf. I should have spoken to Ariadne and found out what had been going on the night Fischer died.'**

"Only to me. Love can be a truly terrifying force for those left behind."

"I never meant to love her. It just happened. I was over it, I thought."

"But then you met Ariadne, who reminded you of those qualities that Mal had before she became trapped in the dreams. But Ariadne will never be that way. Mal, I am sad to say has always been selfish, Arthur. It is her true nature that surfaced in the end and-"

"Ariadne's has already showed," he finished for him. It was true. He'd seen first hand how her face had paled when he had explained Limbo and despite her horror, she had still forced Cobb into it, according to what Eames had told him, to find Fischer and put Mal to rest once and for all in the vain hope that he could be free to see his kids, children she had never met, with no thought to whether she could get out intact.

His life had become a series of ways to babysit Cobb and he was angry that the man had no idea of it. A good portion of the jobs that Cobb had gotten thrown his way was due to his meddling. He'd also been the one to send the lawyer to get him out of the country and even thought Cobb had thanked him for that, he now felt cheated.

'**Cobb should have confided in me. I should have made him talk to me.'**

"Arthur, I miss her too. Bringing Ariadne back isn't just for him, it's for all of us. She can't be another casualty. She can't follow Mallorie's example down there."

Stephen's soft voice broke through the mix of anger and jealousy and he saw that he had misjudged the professor. He wasn't giving Dom a free pass as he had thought, that was why Stephen had agreed to come here.

Arthur could now see that Stephen just wanted peace for the father of his grandchildren. He wanted an end to the phone calls and the constant deliveries that didn't justify the absence of his daughter. Stephen wanted his life back and that couldn't happen until Dom put his together and Ariadne was the key.

Like him, Stephen had been covering for Cobb for far too long and he wanted an end to it.

"If you need to then go but Dom will follow as will Eames. You're right the plan was for only him to go but he can't do this alone. Ariadne is stuck because she wants to be and you might encounter something you're not ready for."

"You're talking about a projection of Cobb."

"And perhaps something more. I'm only guessing at the reason for your open hostility towards him right now and whatever you see down there would be a manifestation of her desires."

"_As someone who has been there for many years. Limbo fulfills every fantasy by simple existing. That is a gateway to something else. Guard against that." _

Saito's words came back to him.

"So you're not going to stop me then?"

"I'll tell them that we had no choice. Get to her and separate them as quick as you can. You will be alone past my dream."

"I'll try to make it back before he has to go under."

"Arthur, you were always like a son to me as well. I have no favorites. Don't risk yourself more than you have to. I've already lost two daughters, don't make me lose anymore children."

The button was pushed and Arthur was gone.

**LEVEL THREE – Stephen's Dream**

Arthur remained seated where he was.

He looked around taking in the leafy tall trees that surrounded the buildings. Girls and boys with lattes sat around in clusters with books spread about them as they did everything but study.

He got up and was instantly looked at. He adjusted his bag and left the bench nonchalantly. The students went back to their conversations and he was able to continue his mission. He strolled to the entrance and caught the tail end of a throng of students entering the university.

Some glanced at him but he just stuck his hand into his bag as if searching for something. He followed them past several classrooms then broke away as he recognized the empty one of Professor Miles.

He quickly made his way down the steps and slid his hand around the bottom of the desk. He felt the catch he's been told to find and knocked open a drawer. He grabbed the silver key from it and made his way to Stephen's office.

Once there and after making sure he was alone, he shut and locked the door confident that the professor would be able to delay Cobb a little longer. He pulled the leather ottoman out from the coffee table and popped it open.

The machine was expertly extricated from the graded papers that covered it and Arthur loosened the lines and adjusted the blinds to ensure privacy.

The low lamplight gave off enough illumination to let him see but not enough to be discovered. He rolled out the leather chair that matched the ottoman from behind the small desk and next to the coffee table.

He sat down, tapped a vein, got the needle and inserted it. His head swam at the sensation but he pushed it in deeper so it wouldn't fall out. He looked at the timer he set, took a deep breath and pushed the button.

**LIMBO – Ariadne and Arthur's Dreamscape**

'**Water, there was so much water. Why the hell was there always so much damm water in dream share? Water is the essence of life and too much of it is the essence of a life unlived. This part must be Cobb's limbo. She hadn't changed it.'**

That realization only made Arthur dig his very expensive Armani shoes more fiercely into the sand. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees just in time to have another wave break over him.

He coughed up the water that he'd swallowed and managed to hold his breath as yet another wave attempted to drag him back into the ocean he'd just climbed out of.

Three tries later he was on his feet and the first thing he did was throw off his heavy leather jacket, leaving him in usual attire of vest, shirt and dress pants. Second was concentrating on his clothes, which were dry as soon as he got out of the surf.

Arthur told himself to remember to thanks Eames for teaching him that useful trick.

He got his bearing and began making the trek out of ocean. The sand soon became beach and the beach became a boardwalk. It resembled Atlantic City, but not the one he knew, this one was older.

He passed it and came upon a square. It was very old world and was dominated by buildings of that time as well. Some of the landmarks were obviously famous which caught his eye as he kept walking.

The projections were mostly tourists that didn't bother him in any way. Some of the girls even waved their maps flirtatiously at him but he was still in awe of everything she had accomplished while down here and therefore ignored them.

He was beginning to see a side of Ariadne he'd never known. **'Was this what she wanted? Where these her desires? And if they were? Where did Cobb fit in all this, where do I?"**

He went past several more buildings, most of which were known for the romanticism that they inspired. A pattern was emerging as more and more of her landscapes came into view.

He wondered if the creations were just wish fulfillment or parts of her personality that she had suppressed.

The cobblestone streets were uncomfortable on his shoes but he was determined to at least find her before Cobb came after them. The sun shined fully upon him but it wasn't hot. It was mild and comfortable enough that he was able to stay in his vest.

He was once again amazed by the complete manipulation of everything in this world. It was a wonder that Cobb had found Saito or that he'd managed to escape this magnificent place on two separate occasions.

Fontana di Trevi soon came into view as he continued his search for her. The brilliant fountains were smaller than its actual real life counterparts but were still beautiful in all their intricacies. Arthur had seen it a few times in his jobs abroad and it was exactly as he remembered aside from a few added features. Ariadne's attention to detail was impressive.

The horses had real manes that would have looked unnatural in the real world but here the water hung in droplets making them shimmer as the horses came to life and stamped their hooves and splashed the happy couples gathering to watch.

Once in a while someone would reach out and the animals would nuzzle the offered hand. It was then he saw her. She had her back to him but even from this vantage point he could tell she was happy. It was confirmed when she turned her face up to the man beside her.

The projection, of Cobb, held onto her waist as she leaned more than half her body into the fountain to pet the horse's velvety nose. The horse neighed and swished its massive tail splashing her and bringing a deep rumble of laughter from her companion.

Ariadne leaned backward and Cobb brought her gently to her feet. Arthur noticed that Ariadne came to shoulder level with the shade of the extractor. She had apparently altered her height and from what he was seeing her stature wasn't the only change.

She was somehow more attractive here. Not that she'd altered herself physically. She just seemed more comfortable in her own skin and her mannerisms showed it off. Gone were the slacks and multiple shirts combined with scarves to the neck. Gone were the long style of hair that hid most of her face.

She still wore her jeans, a little snugger maybe and a nice blouse that showed a little bit of skin. Her trademark jacket and her scarf were there, though the color of the jacket had changed from red to black and it was much more form fitting than anything he'd ever seen her in.

The major difference was the scarf, which was now wrapped around her hair, instead of her neck, gathering it up and away from her face.

She leaned and pecked the man on the cheek and he handed her a coin. She turned around so her back was to the fountain while Cobb stood in front of her, hands in pocket.

She looked behind her one more but before she could toss it, he stopped her, gave her two more coins and pressed a kiss to her palm. Ariadne beamed and threw them with her right hand over her left shoulder and into the fountain.

They landed successfully in the water and several of what Arthur would deem locals immediately burst into applause around them. She went into Cobb's embrace whispering something that made the shade pull her closer. She wrapped her arms around his back and rested her head on his chest.

Arthur had seen enough to know that Ariadne had already gone too far. It was time to end it and he did so by approaching the happy couple.

"Arthur!" she shouted.

"Hello."

"I knew it was a matter of time before you guys showed up. Where are the others?"

"It's just me."

"Oh."

Arthur masked his wounded pride at her lack of enthusiasm. This was not the time or place. "What are you doing?' he asked.

"Isn't obvious? Dominic and I are celebrating."

"Are you?" he said woodenly.

"Yeah, what's the matter? Why are you so serious?" She asked and threw her arms out, "you're in Italy, the eternal city."

"Can I speak to you in private." He said and dragged her away from the square before she could actually protest. He pulled her into a dress shop not far from the fountains but far enough away from the crowds and her shade.

"We would like a private dressing room." Arthur said in flawless Italian.

The woman eyed his immaculate suit and Ariadne's stylish outfit and motioned them towards the back area. It was the size of the average boutique and boasted peach carpeting delicately decorated with a settee and matching sofa in dark mahogany and flowered print.

The woman showed them a dressing room full of outfits in Ariadne's size.

"If you need anything sir, I am Veronica."

She left and Arthur sat Ariadne down. "Do you know where you are?"

The former Architect looked at him confused. "I'm in Italy."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Are you ok, Arthur?" She asked and softly caressed his face.

He grabbed her hand but didn't remove it. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"Why? I'm fine and now that you are here, everything is perfect."

"You didn't say hello, Arthur."

He sighed and Ariadne turned at the sound of the Extractor's voice.

"Hello Cobb."

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"You know why I'm here." He said and stood so that Ariadne was now between them.

"Dom? What's going on? Are you guys mad at each other?"

"No, Ari. Honey."

"Ari? Honey?" Arthur looked at the grim features of the shade and it dawned on him. "You know where she is. You know why I'm here, don't you?"

"You need to leave." Dom said and pulled Ariadne closer to him.

"Are you gonna make me?" Arthur challenged and yanked on Ariadne's other arm.

"Stop it!" she yelled and backed away from them both. "Tell me what's going on."

"You're in…"

"Don't do this, let me tell her please." The shade pleaded but Arthur knew that this was essentially Ariadne's subconscious and it was trying to protect itself.

"I can't. I'm sorry." And he found that he was genuinely was. Whatever she had with this Cobb was something she didn't want to admit to or let go of.

"Ariadne, I'm here to get you home."

"I am home." She said her eyes going to Dominic, who was standing helplessly by.

"You are not home. Think Ariadne. You don't live in Italy. You live in Paris." He said each sentence softly so as not to make her bolt.

"I lived in Paris and moved to Italy with Dominic. We're engaged." She held up her hand and he saw the entwined single emerald and ruby that decorated the ring. "That's what we're celebrating, tell him Dom."

"I can't, Ari."

"Dominic?"

"Where are his kids, Ariadne? If this is real, where are his kids?"

"He doesn't have any." She shook her head confused. "Do you?"

"Phillippa and James. Those are his kids name's." He came closer to her, "you are in Limbo and I'm here to get you back."

"You're the real Arthur."

"I'm the real one."

"How long have I been here?"

He tried not to see the heartbreak on her face, "I'd say about a year and six months. I'm not sure it could be longer."

"That can't…the plane…Fischer…we…"

Ariadne?"

"I need some space. I have to..." She glanced at Arthur but shook her head when he began to follow her.

He tried to push down the anger burning through him as Cobb asked if she would be all right and she stopped long enough to squeeze his hand before leaving.

Five minutes passed and she still hadn't returned. Arthur left the shade staring morosely after him as he ran past Veronica and out into the street. The street was empty and quiet and Ariadne was nowhere to be found.

**'She'd lied to me? But why? Was she waiting for the real Cobb? Had I not been enough to get her to leave her fantasy world?'**

Enraged Arthur stalked back into the room and grabbed the shade by the lapels and shoved him up against the wall. "Where is she?"

"I don't answer to you."

"Tell me where she is!" Arthur demanded.

"Why would I tell you something she doesn't want you to know?" Cobb replied calmly.

"You aren't real." Arthur hissed.

"You keep saying that but it's not me she's running from. Perhaps you are the one that is not real to her."

"How long do you think you can't keep her? I'll find her eventually and bring her out of this nightmare."

Dom laughed and shoved Arthur hard causing him to stumble back into the settee and hit his back painfully on its decorative edging. "Nightmare? She loves it here. I bet she even loves me more than she'll ever love you."

"You can't compete with the real one." Arthur then launched himself forward tackling Dom to the ground. "The moment he shows up she'll leave you."

They struggled on the floor each one trying to get an advantage. Dom hit him in the ribs and rolled to his feet. Arthur wheezed but he was not going down just yet. He shifted onto his non-injured side and kicked Dom in the knee bringing the man down painfully.

He caught a well-placed kick to the stomach but avoided a second by twisting the point man's ankle to the near breaking point. Arthur fell to the ground and pushed him off with his other foot.

He limped away from the shade and Arthur realized it was laughing. Shakily at first then full bodied laughs. "You want to be him so badly. No doubt you've lost more than one woman to him and I may be an imitation but she sees me in a way she'll never see you."

"Shut up," Arthur yelled and threw himself on top of him. He punched the shade repeatedly until he couldn't feel his knuckles any longer. He punched him until the unfairness of it drained him.

Dom, face bloodied and beaten spit out blood and smiled, "still mad about Mal, huh Arthur?"

Arthur exhausted and tired raised his gun and pointed at the head of the man that was both his friend and rival. "You won't have to worry about that any longer," he whispered and fired.

The sound echoed in the large room and Arthur slid down the wall horrified that he had been able to shoot him. He wiped at his face and stared at his bloody palm. He knew that feel of Dom's blood, even though it was fake, hitting his face would forever haunt him.

After several minutes of staring at the unmoving Cobb, Arthur cleaned his face and gathered his wits. If he wanted to find Ariadne, he would have to search the body for any clues.

The pockets of Cobb's pants yielded nothing but his coat had a hotel room key. He sat back on his heels wondering how he was to find Ariadne now that he had killed his only source of information. He flipped the key over and found a tiny name at the bottom.

'Hotel Monolith.'

Arthur pocketed the key and rose not once looking at the body on the floor.


	14. Chapter 14

**Updates yeah! Ok, I know there's been like no Cobb but he's coming up either in Ch. 15 or 16. I swear.**

**Thanks for the reviews, they make me all warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Let's keep the Dom/Ari love going!**

* * *

**LIMBO – Ariadne and Arthur's Dreamscape**

Ariadne stepped through the doors of the shop and made a run for it.

She looked back at the store full of regret that Dom would not be with her until later on. She had no illusions as to what would transpire between Arthur and her shade once the point man figured out that she had given him the slip.

It was her fault. She shouldn't have pretended with Dom with Arthur around.

In truth, Ariadne had never forgotten that she was in limbo. She controlled it not the other way around but she also knew that she would never be able to convince Arthur of that.

He had too much personal experience of the latter to believe that.

Not that she didn't have her near misses, there had been a few times in the past year that she had woken in her Paris house confused but a quick check of her totem had assured her that she was not out yet.

She had built several fail save clues all along her world to keep her memory and building in check as well as keeping to Cobb's rules like limbo commandments. It helped greatly that her shade, modeled after the man himself, was a great deterrent and often stopped her if she was getting too closely invested.

She sighed but couldn't seem to shake the combined guilt of having left Dom behind and deceiving Arthur so she could escape and continue in this world.

She had been very surprised when he had shown up among her projections though not because she hadn't expected him, since every member of their team had made an appearance at one point or another including Fischer.

What had surprised her was that he was alone and that gave him away as real.

She was about to ask where Cobb was but after the cold appraisal he did on herself and her shade, she had instead rephrased it, "I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up. Where are the others?"

"It's just me."

"Oh." She hadn't meant to sound so disappointed and was struck silent by his wounded look.

"What are you doing?' he asked motioning to the fountain behind them.

"Isn't obvious? Dominic and I are celebrating."

"Are you?" he said woodenly.

"Yeah, what's the matter? Why are you so serious?" She asked and threw her arms out, "you're in Italy, the eternal city."

"Can I speak to you in private." He said and dragged her away from the square before she could actually protest.

**'Arthur, let go of me. Arthur, stop manhandling me. Arthur, what the hell?'** Were all things she should have said as he pulled her along yet his take-charge attitude had stuck the responses to her throat, lodging them there.

She tried not to compare him to Dom when he found them but then Arthur stuck her in the middle of them and it was downright impossible. She had tried to reason with him and ended up lying instead and now she was running from a friend she should have been happy to see but wasn't.

He could never understand what she had managed to accomplish here and maybe that was the reason she clung to her shade and by extension Cobb.

Arthur would no doubt be annoyed that she was waiting for Cobb. Since on more than one occasion he had let slip some of the resentment he felt towards their colleague and how everyone acknowledged the extractor as the undisputed leader, even when said leader was falling further into the rabbit hole.

Ariadne had seen Arthur's worry in the warehouse and knew that he cared for Cobb as a brother but like any family relationship, there were real issues that were often hidden for the sake of harmony.

Still she had seen it in his brown eyes how much he wanted to be the one who saved the day and she had used that to her advantage, which was why she felt guilty now, and was not willing to play damsel to his hero. She didn't need saving. She need help in finishing so she could go home and not be haunted by the unending ocean that surrounded limbo.

She departed up the stairs on the left side of the fountain and waited to see if Dom had been able to get away. She lingered on the steps debating whether to go back down but she saw Arthur before he could break through the projections and spot her.

Arthur catching her a second time was not an option.

She moved a few streets around opening up the middle that dissected this portion of the city and leading her straight to the entrance of her favorite hotel.

Ariadne stepped into the foyer and was greeted by the quiet expanse of luxury accommodations. She got into the elevator and punched in the top floor. She let out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding and sank into the seat.

Hotel Monolith would have to be home base for now, she could not lead him to her real home. It would give him leverage over her if he knew where she really stayed.

The elevator pinged and the doors slipped open to show a beach complete with a never-ending pool the exact shade as her companion's eyes.

"He shot me."

Ariadne nodded and leaned on the doors blocking them open. "I figured. That's why I'm here. I knew you wouldn't risk meeting me at our usual spot. So what happened exactly?"

Dom stepped into the elevator and sat in the same place Ariadne had been.

She looked out at the sandcastles that would never be completed before stepping back in and sitting next to him. He punched in the basement button and Ariadne watched the floors pass while trying to process this new side to an old friend. "What did you tell him?"

"He was angry when he realized you were gone. He demanded to know where you had disappeared. I told him I didn't answer to him. He asked me where you were again but I told him, 'why would I tell you something, she doesn't want you to know.'

"Oh, Dom. You didn't. Why would you say that?"

He got up and kicked the elevator wall. "Because it's true, Ari. I mean what the hell. He just comes in and drags you off and I'm supposed to be okay with it. And then he was holding you and it's going to be bad enough when I have to deal with the real Cobb. I don't want to have to deal with Arthur too."

"It's not like I encouraged it," Ariadne said rising to her full height. "You know it's not Arthur that I'm wa-"

"I know, I know. You're waiting for the great and wonderful Cobb. I'm well aware it." He shouted but grew quiet as the elevator finally opened onto a Paris rooftop similar to where she had first done her test for Mr. Cobb.

"I hate this place." He said quietly.

Ariadne didn't bother to reach for him as he walked to the very edge of the rooftop. She was accustomed to the moods of her shade and knew that he wouldn't remain upset long.

"Dom, I can't stay here forever. We both agreed."

"Did we? I remember telling you to leave this place and you said we had a lot of work to do before he showed up. That work is being neglected. These fantasies have to end."

She approached the rail and looked down at the cobbled streets. "I did say that. I'm sorry that I need to go back home with him. With the real Cobb."

The shade turned and looked at her. "I can't give you what he can. You need him, Ari." The blue eyes of Dominic Cobb darkened until they turned brown like hers. "He, Arthur told me I wasn't real."

"Is that what started the fight?"

"No, I didn't care because I know he's right-"

"I don't understand." She said tracing his serious face.

"He said that he'd bring you out and I told him that you loved me more than you would ever love him." He chuckled humorlessly and removed her hands from his face.

"Dom."

"I hit him because he asked me how long did I think I could trap you here." He turned away, "he's right and up to this point I thought I was helping but I'm not. I'm making things more difficult for you. I can see it in how much longer it takes for you to reach for your totem."

"That's not true." She protested attempting to step closer and comfort her shade but he didn't want comfort so she stood still and looked awkwardly at the back he was now presenting her with.

"It took you twenty minutes for you to reach for it yesterday when every other day it has taken five or less. You haven't gone near the dunes since last week and today you told Arthur, you didn't know Cobb had kids."

Ariadne shook her head forgetting he wasn't facing her. "I was lying, of course I know he has kids."

"You're lying now. I saw the way your eyes rounded when he mentioned Phillippa and James. I know you better than that. I know that you remember Paris but what else do you remember? And what have you forgotten?"

Ariadne wrapped her arms around his middle pressing her face into his broad back. "I remembered the warehouse and I remember my time with him as only fragments. I'm forgetting."

He gathered her in his arms and she rested her head against his heart and already she knew he wasn't mad at her anymore. "You need to remember, that's why you need him. I get that but it's becoming harder for me to let you go the longer you stay. I don't want you to get lost in here."

"I won't. We just have to keep the routine we had before."

"Can you tell me what little you do recall? Tell me any interactions you can remember."

"I remember something that happened on the plane." She looked up at him, "it was right after we got to the airport. We'd had an argument on the way there. He told me how he had sabotaged me. He told me that I would never work in dream share after this."

"And what else?"

"Can we do this later?" she asked yawning into his shirt, "it's been a long day and I want to be up and ready for the thing tonight."

"Ari, just tell me what happened and then you can rest. I promise."

She scrunched her forehead in concentration. "Ok, I was sitting in front of Arthur. Saito was in front of me. Eames was…"

"Where was Eames?"

"Eames was behind Cobb and Fischer was in front of Cobb. Yusuf was in the middle at the top. Cobb came in and put his stuff down. He was waiting or listening for something. I can't remember…"

"Try its important."

"Um…

_Cobb was standing several feet over. Every few minutes he would glance at his watch and Saito would look back. Arthur was looking out the window._

_The architect was flipping through a magazine but once in a while she would look up at the tall extractor to her right. She could honestly say she hated him right now._

_It wasn't the fact that the rest of the team knew very little about the man who they were trusting and that she was the only one who did and therefore couldn't tell, that just annoyed her. _

_Granted it was her own fault for having meddled and plugging herself in where she didn't belong but she had wanted to know and now she couldn't forget and honestly she didn't want to. She was glad to have found out what lurked behind the darkness in his eyes, though she wished she could take it away as easily as she found it. _

_What had started the hate she was feeling was his confession of the back alley deal he'd done with Miles in order to get her. Just the idea that they had gone behind her back and planned out her life like she was their kid irritated her greatly but for Cobb to promise to never let her work within his world after showing her its wonders hurt her._

_He trusted her with his demons but couldn't trust her to know her own limits. To cut off her abilities without even so much as a sentence said between them. _

_Ariadne knew very well that whatever addiction she had to dream share had to do with Cobb. Logically it was only fair that he talk to her about its end._

_She rubbed her stomach in remembrance of the knife blade entering her smooth skin and the fact that it was his wife that had embedded it there. She looked up and was startled to see his ocean blues staring at her hand. She hastily picked up her magazine and continued reading but she had seen the question in his eyes._

_Needing to kill time and hide from those eyes, she rose and went straight into the bathroom. _

_Ariadne turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face soaking the neck of her jacket and part of her blouse. She stood enjoying the feel of the cold fabric against her hot skin and the comfort of being alone without five sets of eyeballs scrutinizing her every move. _

_She set her totem down and spun the bishop on the metal counter. Its top made a single semi lazy circle before the heavy bottom toppled it to the side. Ariadne righted the bishop and tried again. It circled then toppled, circled, toppled, circled, toppled, three… four… five more times before she realized that her hands were shaking._

_She tried to put it on the counter but it slipped right off the edge. She stood silent and waiting for the clatter of it hitting the floor but it never came. _

"_What are you doing?"_

"_Doing?" she repeated blinking in an effort to calm herself. _

_Now she was in for it. She knew how he operated, after all it was his job to get information out of people, if he even detected the slightest hint of something wrong, he'd kick her out of the mission for sure. Her only mission if he had his way._

"_Why are you…" it must have dawned on him that he was in the restroom and that he'd just barged in. He recovered his composure and held out the bishop, "this. What is this about?"_

"_You couldn't knock?" she said taking it from his hand._

"_The door wasn't locked so-' he sighed. "Are you ok?"_

_She placed the chess piece in her pocket and motioned for him to close the door. He looked oddly at her but she rolled her eyes, "hey if you want everybody to hear about your nightly experiments by all means leave it open."_

_He scowled at her but closed the door. In hindsight perhaps this had not been the best idea. _

_Ariadne had not realized that though this bathroom was more spacious than most, given its first class locale, it still was an airplane bathroom. And even thought she was downright tiny, Cobb was most definitely not and he seemed to take up all the space so that she found herself cornered and too close to him for her comfort._

"_Look, I'm fine. A little airsick and a little nervous but nothing a few tiny bottles won't cure."_

_He eyed her and she wondered if he was buying any of it. "Ariadne, you can't take any liquor. I wouldn't allow it." He said letting her off the hook._

"_One, I know I'm short but I am over twenty-one. In fact I turned twenty-three last week, want me to show you my I.D. and two, I'm not your kid."_

_He smiled but shook his head. "One, I don't doubt your age even though you look barely out of high school," she started to protest but he shut her up. "Two, with all the sedatives we are about to take, anything else could be fatal. So I'm afraid you're gonna have to do without liquid courage."_

"_Oh, right," she said smiling sheepishly, which seemed to relax him a little bit. _

_She instantly felt bad about thinking ill of him earlier. Here he was with the weight of the mission and the fear of Mal on his shoulders but he still managed to take the time to make sure she was all right._

"_How do you do it?" He asked suddenly._

_Cobb was once again slipping into that earnest expression that always caught her unawares, the one that said he was not as tough as he seemed. "One more time," she said weakly._

"_How do you do it? How do you stay so calm and collected? How do you stay so nonchalant, so sure that everything will be ok?" He clarified._

_She laughed nervously and pushed at her hair, "I don't or don't you remember me spinning my Bishop like a nut-" She stopped afraid she might have offended him since that was what he always doing but his easy smile told her that she hadn't. "Anyway. I just have a mini break down and then I'm ok."_

"_Mini-break downs. I'll try that. Everybody gets scared their first time. Eames puked after his first job and Arthur had panic attacks."_

"_What about you?"_

"_My first time was with Mal. We drank a lot of wine after. So I don't remember much." He looked wistful then became serious again. Ariadne wished she hadn't asked. It sucked to be in love with someone still so in love with his past and watch it take the life out of him._

"_So your bishop, is that what it does? It spins like mine?" He opened his hand to reveal the ever-present totem._

"_No, it's weighted."_

"_You like Arthur's better?" He asked absentmindedly spinning the top._

"_Better…like…"_

"_His idea for totems." Cobb said. "You liked his weighted dice better."_

"_Oh, no. It's weighted but that's not what it does." She got her totem and showed him the bottom. "There's a compartment and inside is something. That's why it's weighted to keep the hinge from springing. It was Miles' idea actually. Do you want to see it better?"_

_Ariadne offered it up to him but in her excitement had forgotten how small the bathroom was and therefore how close they were to each other. It took about two seconds to digest the fact that his face was only a few inches away and that his blue eyes were searching her face before she felt his lips on hers._

_They were soft but firm much like the pressure of his hand on the back of her head. She breathed against him and opened her mouth giving him an invitation to deepen the kiss, which he gladly took._

_She didn't know why this was happening. _

_She would have checked her totem if it wasn't for the fact that it was already clenched in her hand and marking his arm, where it pressed up against. _

_He let go of her head and she almost whimpered but instantly was silenced as she felt his hand shift through her brown hair and rest on her back while adjusting his mouth to better kiss her._

_Ariadne didn't know why she did what she did; it was probably due to the lack of oxygen getting to her brain but she arched her body pushing the full length of her petite frame up against his much larger one. _

_This earned a groan from him, long enough to pull her mouth from his caress to kiss the underside of his jaw. _

"_Excuse me? Is anybody in there? I don't mean to be rude but will you be much longer? The other bathroom is occupied and I really can't wait any more."_

_Yusuf's gentle voice pulled the two apart and the realization of what had transpired between then and what could have happened had Yusuf not interrupted them, made Ariadne stumble back against the wall while Cobb put his head on the door and stared at the ground. _

"_Ari…Ariadne. I'm sorry. I just wanted." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't really know why I came looking for you. I was worried and I don't know why that happened and you know, I never meant to... I'm so sorry." Cobb hurriedly undid the lock and stepped out of the bathroom leaving Ariadne confused and hurt._

"_Oh Cobb, sorry for hurrying you along but I've… what's the matter? Are you all right?"_

_Cobb pushed past the chemist and back through the curtains of the first class cabin not stopping to answer any of the man's questions. _

"_Yusuf, I need to get back to my seat."_

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be in the way; it's just that Cobb looked…where did you? Oh dear. I didn't mean to interrupt you and…not that…I didn't know that you two were…umm." Yusuf trailed off looking like he wanted nothing more than to disappear into the floor._

"_Were not and I really appreciate if you didn't mention." Ariadne waved at the bathroom in embarrassment._

"_I wouldn't dream of it." He said, "I guess we should get back to our seats then."_

"_Yes. Thank you." Ariadne took her seat and buckled up not daring to look at anybody but especially at Eames. The man was a forger for a reason and she did not need any more awkward questions. _

_She took a quick glance at Cobb and found him receiving Fischer's passport, he tapped the man and returned it. Ariadne picked up her magazine but the words kept swimming off the page. _

_Hopefully they would soon be on the job and she could pretend that what happened between them had been a fluke born out of nerves and would never be happening again._

"_He was an inspiring figure. I'm sorry for you loss." She heard him say. Fischer thanked him and clinked glasses. It took less than five minutes for the sedative to kick in and Cobb to get up and test if Fischer was truly out._

"_O.k." He said and immediately the stewardess pulled the curtain, handed the case to Arthur and they all repositioned their chairs. They each grabbed a line and inserted._

_Ariadne adjusted the seat like the others and they all lay back. Yusuf nodded at the stewardess and just as the button was about to be pushed, she turned her head in time to see Cobb turn and look at her before his hand went slack._

She finished her story but Dom wasn't really listening, he was looking out at the sea. He had a feeling that Cobb had just arrived and his time with Ariadne had been cut short.


	15. Chapter 15

**Update! Yay! My muse has been hard at work, enjoy!**

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**SECOND LEVEL – Saito's Dream**

They were the nicest gun-toting goons Cobb had ever met, but goons were goons and though these were very polite, both he and Eames were still escorted with guns pressed to their backs, to the main pagoda where a party was in full swing.

Cobb was led straight to Saito, who assured his henchmen that Mr. Cobb and guest were indeed on the guest list, even though Mr. Cobb had been found in an off-the-limits room. The one holding onto him apologized to his employer and procured a drink for Mr. Saito's guest before being dismissed.

"Everything going according to plan, I presume." Saito said toasting him.

"I assume so. We haven't had any disturbances yet. Are we clear to leave or will I have to mingle?" Cobb asked sarcastically.

"Mr. Cobb, this is a party for very important people. People I suggest you acquaint yourself better with before you go after the young lady."

Cobb smiled thinly at the blonde woman across the room that kept waving her fingers at him. Saito looked and curled his mouth in distaste. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

"I gave you advice once when I dropped you off. Recall that advice and you will know everything, have a good evening, Dominic."

Saito left Cobb puzzling what possible advice he could have given him that would account for his host's cryptic remarks. He saw the same blonde wave at him and he reluctantly joined her as he caught the eye of one Saito's many bodyguards.

The Japanese businessman was certainly taking no precautions when it came to his safety even though he was in no real danger. The blonde waved him over and Cobb immediately knew who she was. "I'm starting to worry about you Eames."

"That be two of us. Have you noticed all the bloody security?"

Cobb tried not to laugh as Eames' deep baritone came out of the petite blonde by his side. "Yes, I have noticed it as a matter of fact. Arthur and Miles should already be there."

"I noticed you took a side trip earlier before being caught. Care to divulge where you went?" Eames asked then gave a high-pitched giggle.

Cobb looked at him oddly but he realized that some of the new goons seemed to be looking at them. He grabbed Eames and spun him onto the dance floor. Cobb kept good time and eventually they were lost among the other couples.

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time, no wonder poor little Ari fell for you. Kid didn't stand a chance." Eames muttered in his usual voice.

Cobb threw him a dirty look and ducked out into a hallway dragging the laughing Eames behind him. As soon as the door closed Cobb let go and they began to check the rooms. He knew the layout of the island but that slight tap to the head he'd been given had turned him around.

Eames slid a door open and hauled Cobb in before the roaming guards spotted them. "Do me a favor will you. Never use her again."

Eames looked affronted but dropped the blonde camouflage. "I know you prefer brunettes, I'll have to remember that next time."

"I'm beginning to see why Arthur gets annoyed with you so easily."

Eames shrugged and walked to the far wall. He pushed in a panel that revealed a hidden passage. "After you, fearless leader."

Cobb stepped in and Eames followed behind making sure the lever was pushed back to hide where they had gone. No need to give them a trail to follow. "Do you remember Saito ever giving me advice?" Cobb asked suddenly.

"No, why?" Eames said counting the inner walls.

"Just something he said down at the party." Cobb replied and expertly moved a side panel.

They stepped into a room that looked identical to the one they had just left but Cobb knew that this was the typical style of most pagodas and he was glad he'd gotten his bearings.

"Maybe it was something he said prior to me joining you." Eames answered and found the secret floor block that covered the exit of the caverns bellow. "They should have come to this room and through this corridor."

"We'll have to check each room quickly. We're already late." Cobb said looking at his watch.

They pulled out their guns and simultaneously opened the door.

Cobb shot, caught and neatly dragged in the guard standing just outside it. Eames saluted him with his gun and Cobb shook his head but grinned anyway.

They methodically checked each room along the corridor this way, until Eames kicked in the third one and felt more than saw the gun to his temple. "You get the next one," he said to Cobb.

"I will." Cobb said and put away his own gun.

Stephen pulled the weapon away from forger's temple and immediately closed the door. "My apologies, I had no way to see who it was without exposing myself or Arthur."

"That's quite alright. You didn't pull the trigger so no apology necessary."

"Why isn't Arthur-" Cobb was going to say helping you but the question was left hanging in the air as he caught sight of other man already plugged in.

"Why the hell did he go without us?" Cobb snapped rounding on Stephen.

"Calm down. Let's just go in." Eames muttered.

"What happened?" Cobb shouted.

Miles explained as they set themselves up. "He wanted to get to her as quickly as possible and given how long she's been down there, I thought it wasn't a bad idea. Besides you were taking too long and we were being chased so we had no choice but to go without you or Eames."

"Bullshit. He's been chomping at the bit to the get to the girl since we started planning at Saito's. How long has he been down there?" Eames asked.

"Ten minutes."

"He's been down there two goddamm hours, alone?" Cobb shouted.

Miles looked at him. "Dom. Before we go, answer one question."

"I don't have time for this."

"I did not make the decision of letting him go after Ariadne lightly. I will do the same to you. That young woman is depending on all of you and that means your motivation has to be her and only her. Not to right some wrong. Do you understand me?"

"Understood."

"What happened between you and her?"

Exasperated, Cobb just glared at his mentor. "What did you all have a meeting about this? Why do you people keep asking me this? I will repeat it again. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. We had a working relationship. That is all."

"Why is Arthur under the impression that you did?"

"I don't know why he thinks that. Arthur is not exactly an open book." Cobb said annoyed.

"I'm afraid I do have some cause for concern. Mallorie's re-emergence and her reaction to Ariadne," Stephen pointed to Eames, who waved, "are not mere coincidences. Whatever you're burying could be the difference between her staying and her coming out intact."

"I know that!"

"Something had to have happened. Dom. You know this, think."

"I have been thinking. What the hell do you suppose I was doing when I was sitting at her side? Don't you think I've been racking my brain? Wondering what it is about her that triggers Mal." Cobb shouted practically in Stephen's face.

"Hey, hey take it easy. Breathe, breath," Eames instructed forcing Cobb away from the Professor.

Cobb sat down and put his head between his hands trying to stop the panic that was coursing through his veins. "What happens if he chased her away? I can't lose…I should have never let her create. But even when she angered the projections and they began to notice, I couldn't help it. She was a natural." He was babbling but he didn't care.

He'd been carrying so much guilty already that he'd thought a little more wouldn't have made a difference, but it did, because it was her and she was so different from Mal.

_She had looked so confused when he saw her standing in the elevator. He'd gotten up quickly not because Mal would do her harm again but because he'd felt like he was cheating on her with Mal._

'_You shouldn't be here.'_

'_I just wanted to know what kind of tests you're doing every night.' _

_He felt exposed and laid bare to her scrutiny and for some bizarre reason he wanted her good opinion not her pity. He had enough of that from everybody else and he snapped at her in defense, 'this had nothing to do with you.' _

_And then she had cut through all his lies and all his excuses with that soft voice, 'this has everything to do with me, you've asked me to share dreams with you.'_

'_Not these.' _

_Any other ones but these, these only show you what's wrong with me. These show you that I have a flawed design. _

'_These are my dreams.' This is my penance._

'_Why do you do this to yourself?' she asked and he felt her small hand tug on his jacket. He looked down at it and wondered if she knew how she was affecting him. How she was forcing him to question the way he was surviving. How through her eyes, his method was pathetic._

'_It's the only way I can still dream.' _

_He dreamt but they were all nightmares, waking ones that left him tired and confused. He would black out for seconds at a time, standing at the whiteboard, sitting at his desk and even when he was in a café drinking coffee. He couldn't sleep without screaming himself hoarse so he had opted for the dreamscape, anything for a little clarity._

'_Why is it so important to dream?' _

_Her question was hesitant as if he was going to shout at her or tell her it was none of her business but it was so sincere. So full of longing…a longing to understand him in a way nobody had wanted to try to in many years._

'_In my dreams we are still together.' _

_I didn't kill her in my dreams. She doesn't hate me in my dreams; I'm not responsible for the orphan state my children are in, I'm not broken in my dreams. I'm still worth something._

"I let her keep creating. I should have stopped her but then she snuck in and instead of chasing her away, I let her see my memories. I let her see what had become of my sleep. She hooked into me, one of the nights at the warehouse."

"That's it." Miles said, "that's the connection that holds her to you. That limbo is now hers as well. Take what you know about her and use it to pry her from it."

"What if he spooked her? What if he confused her more? What if she's taken refuge somewhere I've never been because of him?"

Stephen sat down on the chair opposite of him, "she's is strong. She'll just make another labyrinth. Eames, you know her the best, what do you think she'd do?"

Eames scratched his head and thought for a moment. "She'll have made a safe haven. Something only she would recognize but she'll leave clues. Especially if she even suspects that her environment is not real but we have no more time to worry about it. We need to move if we want to catch up to Arthur."

Cobb got up miserably and waved in Saito. The tourist stood in the doorway accessing the scene. "I see I am very late. My apologies."

The remainder of the team shuffled into their spots with Cobb sitting as far from Arthur as possible.

Saito bent down and patted Cobb on the shoulder, "I once told you to choose your team more carefully and you have. Do not let this destroy your trust in him, he is helping you, he is just not aware of it yet."

**THIRD LEVEL – Stephen's Dream**

They were now standing in front of the old college where Dominic and Mal's had gone.

Students walked around them to and from class and Cobb took in their surroundings while Eames passed himself as a co-ed. Since it was a closed campus, the professor went to procure guest passes.

The group was making their way to the main building when an officer stepped out and asked to see their identification. "Sorry for the inconvenience Professor but you know how it goes." The officer said handing back Professor Miles' faculty badge. "You'll have to get them visitor's passes, or you'll have to do this again."

"They're only visiting their old professor. I doubt they'll last the day, I'm not as exciting as I used to be." Miles smiled and the officer laughed and waved them on their way.

"Do you actually know him?"

"That's Serge. Nice man with a lovely daughter who is in my third period class and whose mother bakes the most delicious raspberry tarts. Now let's get to my office and we'll get you two on your way."

"Hi Dom."

"Mal, I don't have the time for this."

"You want to bet?" she said and pointed to the couple on the bench.

He looked and there he was, at least a younger version of him. The younger Cobb was sitting next to an equally young and even more beautiful Mal but she was not the one that was capturing the shy Dominic's attention.

Not more than a few yards over was Ariadne, sitting by a tree reading a book unaware of the adoring gaze being sent her way. The young would be Architect looked up and waved him over. She was the same age as the projection Dominic and Mal but she paid young Dominic no attention.

"Wow. She really is ignoring him, isn't she?" Eames mused aloud.

"Perhaps they have nothing in common. Age means so little no a days." Mal supplied.

"Shut up." Cobb managed to say to them before Ariadne ran and gave him a rather personal hug, one that made him aware that despite her clothing and general appearance Ariadne was very much a woman.

"Hi," he said.

"I thought you weren't visiting today."

"Why was I visiting you again?" he asked wanting to know how this Ariadne knew him.

"Are you ok? Is Saito working you so hard you'd forget about your own girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend. You are moving up." Mal said from the side.

"Hello, I'm Ariadne and you are?" she asked pointedly eyeing Mal's hand on Dominic's shoulder.

"Ooh, she has spirit. I can see why you like her." She said not introducing herself.

"Dom?"

"She's Mal, his cousin." Eames answered.

Ariadne eyed her but shrugged, apparently she had no reason to distrust him. "Nice to meet you. Are you here to see Prof. Miles?"

"Oh yes, it's been ages since I've seen daddy."

"Prof. Miles is your father?" Ariadne asked. "He mentioned he had a daughter, no wonder you looked familiar."

"Will you take me to him?" Dominic asked.

She looped her arm through his, "you forgot already? Are you getting old on me honey?"

"You have no idea." Eames said and he and Mal laughed.

"Ignore them. No I just…I'm glad to see you." And he found that he was. He was so glad to have her back, to have his Ariadne safe and sound and with him.

As they walked Eames and Mal talked quietly behind them. Every once in a while Cobb would turn and look at them suspiciously and Ariadne would have to repeat her question.

"You seem distracted."

"I've been a little worried about work but I'm ok."

She leaned in close and he was treated to the faint scent of apple. "How about we go out after class and maybe I can help you relax a bit."

He tried not to blush at her suggestive tone but having her that close all of sudden was doing weird things to his normally serious demeanor.

He agreed and they made quick work of the building and soon he had to part from her. "I'll see you later, then?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes." He said but he knew that it didn't matter if he lied. She wasn't real.

The Professor and Eames had already gotten to the case and its components were easily unfurled and waiting for him. It was decided that he would go first to see what kind of damage Arthur had done, if any and then Eames would follow as backup.

He lay back on the leather armchair and looked out the window. "Didn't you meet Mal in school?" Eames asked as he lay down on his chair.

Stephen looked out the same window. There not more than a few feet away was his much younger son-in-law, this one was true to the original and not the one in love with the projection of Ariadne.

He was sitting on a bench reading a book while Miles' just a young daughter sauntered up to him and began talking. The brunette motioned to the bench and hastily moved to make room for her.

"I never thought he was shy." Eames commented.

"Painfully so. I had to make him my teacher's aid to get him to stay in my classroom for more than a few seconds when she was around." He smiled wistfully and Cobb saw the years that had been tacked on by this whole ordeal shift off his face.

"Is that it?" Cobb asked not wanting to see the years go back onto his father-in-law's face.

They added the last of the sedatives and set the timers, "that's it. Bring them all back."

**LIMBO – Ariadne & Arthur and now Dominic's Dreamscape**

He slid out of the water gracefully this time. No sputtering, no chocking and certainly no facedown on the sand for him. This would mark the third time that he'd entered this place and he could only hope that he would also be successful in leaving a third time with his entire team.

He shrugged out of his jacket but didn't bother to slick his hair back. At this point all he wanted was out of the waves and to see the face of the real Ariadne Mace.

Cobb looked around noting that the general environment looked the same. The decrepit buildings were still crumbling into the ocean, which accounted for the massive waves still trying to drown him.

The ocean oddly enough did look changed. It was calmer and a bluer shade if that possible but given that he was in limbo, it was possible and very probable.

He approached the beach warily, half expecting to see Arthur ready to yell at him and half expecting to see Ariadne with a platoon of men aiming guns at his head. He smiled at the idea that he would prefer to face Ariadne and guns to Arthur and a lecture.

The smile however dropped off his face as he moved away from the beach and he saw more of her creations. Like Arthur before him, the sheer volume of what she had accomplished impressed and scared Cobb.

This level of creating was dangerous. It would be too easy to get lost in it.

While Saito had made an island fortress and he and Mal had made several cities in one, Ariadne had actually built monuments; the Eiffel Tower, the Fountains of Italy and several other architectural wonders, many whose names currently escaped him.

But unlike Arthur he was not surprised. He had known from the moment that she had recreated that bridge that Ariadne was one of those special architects that rarely ended in dream share because when they did, bad things happened to them.

He approached an area that looked remarkably like the Globe Theater complete with an authentic Shakespearian square. He wanted so badly to investigate it, to see how many details she had incorporated and if she had known that it was one of his most favorite buildings in the world, when she had built it.

"I knew you were here." An unfriendly voice said from behind him.

Cobb turned around and was met with his own face. "You're…"

"Dominic Cobb, shade and you're here for my Ari."

"Where is she?"

"You didn't think I was gonna make it easy for you did you?"

Cobb stepped closer. "You're not real."

Dom, the shade smiled. "Didn't matter to her."

"You can't keep her here."

"That's what he said too then she ran away from him and back to me." Dom replied.

"Where is Arthur?" Cobb asked.

The shade waved his hand toward the city in the distance, "around. Though considering what he did to me, I'd be on my guard if I were you. Which I am sort of."

"What did he do?" Cobb asked carefully not sure if he wanted to know.

"He shot me." The shade said and leaned so that its blue eyes were directly looking into Cobb's. "Arthur shot and killed me."

"Cobb! Cobb!"

Cobb turned looking around to pinpoint where Arthur's voice was coming from, "Arthur! I'm here."

"See you around, Dom."

Arthur ran up to him just as Ariadne's shade disappeared into a side street that hadn't been there before. "When did you get here?" the point man asked.

"Just now. Have you spoken to Ariadne? Have you seen her?" Cobb grilled him.

"Yeah and it's bad. She's in deep, Cobb. I'm worried about her. Have you met him?"

"I did."

"And? What do you think?"

"I don't know that I can bring her out of it." Cobb said but he didn't repeat what the other Dominic had told him. _'Didn't matter to her.'_

**What did he mean? Had she gotten involved with that Dominic? And if she had, how deep had she fallen? Had that Dominic Cobb claimed his Ariadne?'**


	16. Chapter 16

**My muse has been kicking butt. I already have the next chapter and the one after that written. **

**The next chapter will have the lovely Ariadne and the real Dom having their first...meeting.**

**Enjoy!**

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**LIMBO – **

"You are aware that he'll follow us if he sees us." Dom said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, I know." Ariadne replied. "Let him, it will give us the time we need."

"How?"

"He'll talk to the others," she said eyeing the rolling ocean and the sputtering forger emerging from it. "Cobb wouldn't bring others here unless he had to. I can only assume Miles is involved somehow."

"Should I go?" Dom asked.

"No." she said and held his hand. "I need you here. I can't face them alone, not yet."

He squeezed her hand and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"My, my. A welcoming party, I do feel honored."

"It's nice to see you Eames." Ariadne said and hugged the man she considered family.

"Careful sweetheart, I don't want to give your Cobb any wrong ideas."

Ariadne laughed and tugged him along. "You won't."

"Are you positive? Because from here it looks like he might want to do more than shake my hand."

Ariadne looked at Dom, and sure enough his hand was inside his jacket, where his gun was normally situated. "Dominic Cobb, you better remove your hand from that gun. I will not have you shooting our friend."

Dominic growled something that was too low for either Ariadne or Eames to catch but removed his hand from his coat and to a more visible area.

Eames knowing that part of his job here was to help separate them while gaining their trust acted on instinct. "Eames, practically a brother to little Ari and you?"

Dom glanced at the offered hand and shook it reluctantly, "Dom."

"You certainly got the surliness down." Eames said to Ariadne, "you sure he's not the real one."

Dom scowled and pulled her in for a heart-stopping kiss which left Ariadne grinning before replying, "very sure but he's close in so many other great ways."

"T.M.I, darling. T.M.I."

Ariadne apologized but Eames noted that it didn't really sound like she was sorry. If anything she looked like she would have liked nothing more than to continue where that kiss had left off.

"So kiddo, I know that I'm the last to join the party but have you come across our other esteemed colleagues or have you been otherwise occupied."

Ariadne reddened a bit but answered truthfully. "We ran into Arthur yesterday but I gave him the slip and we've been keeping a low profile since."

"What about Cobb?"

"No, well at least I didn't." Ariadne said and threw her companion a sharp glare.

"That must have been something to see. How did Cobb react to seeing his doppelganger?"

"He was surprised."

"Just surprised? Didn't inquire about your girlfriend or Arty?"

"Dom?" she prompted.

"He asked where Arthur was and I told Cobb he was around. He might have asked where you were."

"You didn't tell me that."

"I forgot." Dom said but his facial expression clearly said he did no such thing.

"Things happen in the heat of the moment, I'm sure. That is not important. What is important is that I get out of this cold wet ocean and do something entertaining, "Eames said.

"I'm doing a party at the Hotel Monolith tonight. You're welcome to come." Ariadne said extending an invitation out to him.

"Classy." He said examining the cream envelope. "I would love to. Black Tie?"

"Masquerade, roaring twenties." Ariadne said.

"I've always wanted to be a bootlegger. I bet I can rustle up something becoming."

"I bet you can."

"Ari, we have to go." Dom said gently leading her away and sending a polite nod Eames' way.

"Just follow the noise." Ariadne threw back.

Eames watched her walk away arm in arm with Dom. "You got a lot of work ahead of you, Cobb. I hope you've sorted out your feelings, because she has."

**OTHER PART OF LIMBO – **

"It's something isn't it?" Arthur asked the distracted Cobb.

"Something… doesn't quite capture it." Cobb replied. "He said you killed him." It was said part question and part statement.

"I did." Arthur looked at Cobb. "He didn't want to let her go. He said some…things and I just kind of lost it."

Cobb looked at his friend, unsure of what to make of his answer. In all the years he'd known Arthur, the younger man had never _'just lost it.' _He was too rational for that. Whatever had happened had to have been significant.

He hadn't let himself consider that his point man had fallen for his architect and he certainly hadn't considered Arthur preceding him to Limbo and encountering Ariadne or her shade, first. He rubbed his head in thought.

**'Shades were made to protect the dreamer. The stronger and more unique the shade, the more of the personality of the dreamer it carried. If the shade had taunted Arthur to the point of violence, it could only mean that Ariadne had purposely used it as a distraction, that she was giving it more freedom than it should have.'**

There was something here that she hadn't accomplished and was trying to keep him and anybody else who came after her occupied long enough to finish it.

He tried very hard not to think about her shade, how it was so much like him. How it spoke of her, _'his Ari'_. How it had talked about her with such intimate knowledge. How Arthur encountering it had lead to him killing it. **'What could it have said that would drive his normally calm friend to that extreme? And just hard had it been for him to pull the trigger?'**

All these thoughts were making his head hurt and wishing that he had never agreed to this stupid job. And now there was Ariadne to consider, how to approach someone who had apparently run back to her shade at the first sign of an extraction.

He'd have to corroborate what had really happened with Arthur and then maybe he could figure out what the hell his architect was doing. But he'd have to be subtle. He had felt the tension between Arthur and himself, since he had arrived, though if he was honest, he knew that it had been there since Saito had gotten shot and the possibility of Limbo had been brought up.

And it had only gotten worse when she had covered for him about not knowing where the train had come from, though he hadn't known she was pretending until she confronted him, and after she had failed to return to the waking world.

Cobb wasn't oblivious of her attraction to him, no matter how well he pretended nor was he ignorant of Arthur's infatuation with her. At least he assumed that's what it was but now he wasn't as sure. **'Had Ariadne somehow divined their feelings for her? Was she using that to divide them and therefore give herself more time? But time for what? What was she doing that was so vital that she would risk losing her reality? And why did that involve a copy of himself?'**

A lot of what was happening was his fault.

It had been an innocent harmless crush and would have stayed like that if he hadn't encouraged it by confiding in her and then later on by kissing her on the plane. He should have never crossed that line, and looking at Arthur's stony face made him aware that it was something that he would have to confess to sooner rather than later.

He still had no idea what had compelled him to follow her and he didn't dare analyze his feeling for her at this point. He knew they were a mixed up jumble of gratitude and attraction and it was not something he should be saddling her with, especially when her own feelings could be a residue of their extreme attachment due to the intimate nature of dreaming together.

Yet despite that, he'd followed her. All it took was one look at her face, wearing that same anxious expression he was used to seeing everyday in the mirror, to get him out of his seat.

It had looked so much worse on her that he didn't think about the fact that they were all supposed to be strangers or what the others would say if they noticed. He just wanted to erase her fears and maybe her give one moment of comfort before they went under.

_The captain had just announced that they could move about the cabin when he saw her hurry to the bathroom out of the corner of his eye._

_He had quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and followed her just to make sure that she was ok and that it was just his paranoid mind that was making him so worried._

_The door had not been locked and Cobb didn't stop to consider that barging in on her would probably make her less likely to tell him if something really was wrong. _

_The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was that her hands were shaking, the second was that she had obviously been using her totem, that alone forced him forward into the small space and just in time to catch her chess piece in his hand._

"_What are you doing?" Dom winced at how harsh it sounded._

"_Doing?" she repeated blinking rapidly as if he was just some figment of her imagination._

_He took in the wet collar, the few strands of hair that were plastered to her forehead and the trembling voice. "Why are you using…" it dawned on him that he was alone with a very nervous woman in a very small area. He softened his tone and held out the bishop, "this. What is this about?"_

"_You couldn't knock?" she said taking it from his hand._

"_The door wasn't locked so-' he sighed as all the familiar signs of dream share withdrawal became apparent. "Are you ok?" he asked again lowering his voice in hope of dissolving some of her nervousness._

_She placed the chess piece in her pocket and motioned for him to close the door. He looked oddly at her but she rolled her eyes, "hey if you want everybody to hear about your nightly experiments by all means leave it open."_

_He scowled at her but did as she instructed. It was bad enough she knew about it, he didn't want the rest of the team finding out. He'd already given up his share to Yusuf just to keep the man quiet. _

_Dom locked the door and turned, prepared to question her until he got answers as to why she was hiding and playing with her totem. The prepared lecture he was about to give her flew out the window as he realized that he was now enclosed with Ariadne in a area so small that if anybody caught them, they'd no doubt assume that the pair had just joined a certain altitude club._

_He'd already seen the suspicious looks Arthur and Saito had given him and he didn't want to give anybody else ideas as to why he was so protective of her. She didn't need that kind of association with him if he wanted her to walk away from all of this intact._

_And though Cobb was definitely not comfortable with the situation they were in now, he had followed her for a reason and he intended to see it through to his original intention even if it meant having to pull Ariadne physically from the wall she had plastered herself up against._

_He would have to show her that he was not here to give her a hard time that he was here strictly to set her a little more at ease before the job._

"_Look, I'm fine. A little airsick and a little nervous but nothing a few tiny bottles won't cure."_

_He eyed her and he wondered if she thought he was buying any of it. "Ariadne, you can't take any liquor. I wouldn't allow it." He said letting her off the hook mostly just to get the cornered animal look off her face. He never would have thought that she found him so intimidating, considering how she'd been bossing him around since she'd found out about his nightly activities._

_Instantly as if she had read his mind, she pulled herself from the wall and looked directly up at him. "One, I know I'm short but I am over twenty-one. In fact I turned twenty-three last week, want me to show you my I.D. and two, I'm not your kid."_

_He smiled but shook his head, glad that she'd gotten her spine back. "One, I don't doubt your age even though you look barely out of high school," she started to protest but he shut her up. "Two, with all the sedatives we are about to take, anything else could be fatal. So I'm afraid you're gonna have to do without liquid courage."_

"_Oh, right," she said smiling sheepishly, which relaxed him a little bit. She couldn't be that bad off if she was forgetting that they would be pumping enough sedatives into their system to put an Elephant into a coma._

_She grew quiet afterwards and he examined her. Apparently talking had helped since she looked better than when he'd first busted in. She looked less anxious and he wished that it were that simple to stop his own worries. "How do you do it?" He asked suddenly._

"_One more time," she said weakly._

"_How do you do it? How do you stay so calm and collected? How do you stay so nonchalant, so sure that everything will be ok?" He clarified._

_She laughed nervously and pushed at her hair, "I don't or don't you remember me spinning my Bishop like a nut-" She stopped. He smiled to show her that he was not offended and she continued, "Anyway. I just have a mini break down and then I'm ok."_

"_Mini-break downs. I'll try that. Everybody gets scared their first time. Eames puked after his first job and Arthur had panic attacks."_

"_What about you?"_

"_My first time was with Mal. We drank a lot of wine after. So I don't remember much." He tried hard to remember that first job. It had been a simple one but it was almost six years ago and the details of it, much like everything else since Mal's death, were lost to him._

_Ariadne looked away and he knew that he'd brought that down cast expression on her face by bringing up Mal. His gaze settled on her totem and he latched onto it to distract her. "So your bishop, is that what it does? It spins like mine?" He opened his hand to reveal his ever-present totem._

"_No, it's weighted."_

_A hollow feeling settled in his stomach at her words and he recalled Arthur explaining about his own loaded dice, all the while she was yelling that she was not going to open her mind to someone like him. _

**'**_**Had he misjudged her attentiveness to him for something else? Was it that Arthur was so much closer to her age and therefore saw him in a more favorable light that his own damaged older self?**__ "You like Arthur's better?" He asked absentmindedly spinning the top._

"_Better…like…" She stumbled over her words and he cursed himself for being so stupid. _

**'**_**Great now she's going to think that I'm asking her who she likes more.' **__"His idea for totems. You liked his weighted dice better," he added hastily in an attempt to show her that he meant nothing personal and not liking where his own train of thought was taking him. _

_He could not get involved with this woman. He could not immerse her in his life anymore than he already had. He had not right to be asking such questions of her when he wasn't willing or able to be there for her._

_She nodded in understanding and he let go a sigh of relief as she explained, "oh, no. It's weighted but that's not what it does." She got her totem and showed him the bottom. "There's a compartment and inside is something. That's why it's weighted to keep the hinge from springing. It was Miles' idea actually. Do you want to see it better?"_

_Ariadne offered it up to him but in her excitement had forgotten how small the bathroom was and therefore how close they were to each other. It took about two seconds to digest the fact that her face was only a few inches away from his and that her mouth was so close that he could feel her warm breath fan over his. _

_He didn't think about how wrong it was to take advantage of her crush on him. He didn't think about her age or that fact that she might accept him or worse hate him for pushing their relationship from its working niche and into something that had no chance of surviving. He didn't even think about the fact that she might be interested in Arthur and not him._

_All he saw was the chance to give in and stop fighting what he'd wanted to do since that night when she'd whispered that he'd asked her to share dreams with him. He didn't hesitate to press his lips against hers but he knew he would apologize for doing so if she asked him to._

_It was the only out he was going to give her but he needn't have bothered. _

_Her mouth pressed back and his hand moved to the back of her head, simultaneously holding her and keeping himself from taking more liberties. She breathed against him and parted her mouth giving him an invitation to deepen the kiss, which he gladly took._

_Cobb let go of her head and she made a sound that was instantly silenced as his hand moved from the back of her head and down her brown hair and came to a halt on her back._

_He didn't know why she was allowing this to happen and he didn't care. He'd have questioned the realism of the situation but her totem pressing against his bicep made it unnecessary. She knew he had nothing to offer her and just when the first tiny shards of guilt began to creep in she did something surprising and at the same time typically Ariadne._

_Her body arched and pushed the full length of her petite frame up against his much larger one. At this point he could not have pulled away if he had wanted to as her arms were draped around his neck in an iron grip that kept him pined where he was._

_This earned a groan from him that continued as he felt her tongue glide along his jaw line. He knew that they were just a step from very dangerous territory. He should have known better than to grip her waist and pin her to the wall._

_He was definitely more experienced and the sensation of her breast molding to his chest and the feel of her hips wiggling impatiently in his hands shouldn't have put his brain in a fog. After all he had been a married man and as such had made liberal use of his marital rights._

_A part of him said that it was his lack of physical relationships in the past year that were making his body act like that of a sixteen year old during his first time but the other part of him, the part that was brutally honest with him when he least wanted it, was telling him that the other women he'd been with had only been warm bodies._

_While Ariadne was more than that, she was the first good thing he hadn't ruined. The first woman, who saw beneath the cocky and self assured man to the one struggling to hold it all together. _

_He wanted; no he craved to hear her voice moaning in his ear like it was now, not asking if he was ok. He wanted her to look to him not to assure herself that he still among them but as someone she wanted to share everything with. Most of all he wanted to protect her from him and cherish the bright eyed optimism she showed in all her work. _

_All these thoughts had rampaged through his mind at the same time that he was ready to give up all pretense and show her what she really meant to him. _

_It was then that Yusuf had interrupted them and he'd made a stupid apology and fled back to his seat like the coward he was. She had sat soon after and hadn't glanced at him all. _

_He was grateful that Eames chose that moment to hand him Fischer's passport. It reminded him why he was on the plane. First and foremost it was a job. A job that would take him back to his kids and not a reason to romance his much younger co-worker, a co-worker that knew his deepest and darkest secret._

_Fischer fell asleep and the plan was set in motion. He took one quick look at her but she was busy lowering her seat. And he couldn't help but feel that she had dodged an emotional bullet and was better off not being burdened by his sudden feelings._

_Arthur said something and she smiled at him in response and the weight of the mission felt just a little bit heavier._

_The drug rushed into his system and he turned to look at her once more but his hand slipped off the armrest before she could return his gaze._

"By the way, since when do you call her Ari?" Arthur asked interrupting his trip down memory lane.

"I'm sorry?"

"Since when have you been so friendly with her? You could barely stand her when we first met. You said and I quote,_ 'she's very raw and doesn't listen. She's gonna take time to get used to.'_ What happened to change your mind so quickly?"

"I didn't change my mind and I don't call her Ari." Cobb protested suddenly wanting nothing more than to start searching for Ariadne and making this conversation end.

"You did. When Eames played her. I distinctly recall you calling her Ari."

"You must have heard wrong."

"Cobb. I've known you for ten years. Don't con me."

"If I did, it was an accident. I didn't change my mind, not really. It's difficult to explain."

Arthur folded his arms, "then try. We got nothing but time and its better now than when you have to deal with her shade a second time."

"She saw things that…"

"Things you'd been hiding from us…from me."

Cobb looked away guiltily. "I had to hide it from you. You knew Mal before she changed. It was so hard for me to see her that way and I couldn't bear for you to have to deal with it too, not after you warned me and I didn't listen."

"I know how it works, Dominic. I know how twisted projections can become and how unlike the real person they can be. You should have trusted me. You should have told me."

"I know. I know and if I had, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now."

"You know that she's infatuated with you." Arthur snapped.

"It'll pass. My circumstances have not changed."

"And if they did?" He asked. "Don't you think your usual denial of things could be the reason she is here?" Dom made no reply and eventually began walking. "Tell me why you were hooked up together the night Fischer's father died?"

They left the beautiful square behind and came upon another area. This one was modern and urban. A complete 360 of the previous area and he had to laugh at the variety of her designs. "Tell me what happened?"

"I didn't plan it, if that's what you're thinking." They both stopped at a railing that overlooked another part of the city. It was a hybrid of New York and Los Angeles. It was large and busy and the lights of LAX glinted of the harbor and illuminated the Statue of Liberty where it stood proudly.

"She must have stayed behind and I was so tired. I just wanted to dream and since I can't dream, much less sleep normally anymore, I wasn't thinking straight. I screwed up and went under before checking that the coast was clear. She snuck in and popped into my dream."

"She just appeared? What did she see?" Arthur asked his face illuminated by the lights.

Cobb shook his head. "I can't tell you that. It's over and done with now so it doesn't matter anyway. Needless to say she encountered Mal and she decided to help me."

"Without any reason to? She just said, _'hey Cobb I'm gonna help you get rid of your wife's violent shade.' _That's what you're telling me?"

"What do you want me to say? I didn't screw around with her ok. I did nothing but show her what she had to do. She was the one that wouldn't leave me alone. She was the one that cornered me every time she had a chance. I did nothing wrong."

"Why are you here for her, then?"

"She didn't judge me, Arthur. She bullied and shoved her way into my life but she never judged me. She always wanted to help, to find a way to make me feel better. She knew what I was doing was wrong and all she did was try to help. I have to do what I can for her. I can't leave her here not when the only reason she went to limbo was for me."

"She wouldn't be where she is if that was all, Dom. You know this. You have this way with women and you don't know what you do to them. What you force them to give up to be with you and even worse you don't even know that you're as involved with her as she is with you."

"I am not the least bit interested in her."

"You say that now but what if she has the relationship she wanted with you here, with her shade? What if what you started with her up there followed her down here?"

"There is nothing going on between us, there never was."

Arthur stared at him and Cobb had to fight the urge to squirm. "So nothing happened when you followed her to the bathroom?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Give me some credit. It's my job to know everything about everybody. I was watching her fidgeting in her seat long before you did. I knew she'd get up but I wasn't expecting you to follow."

"She was playing with her totem." Cobb said and once more walked away but Arthur followed. It seemed so wrong to be giving away her secrets in front of her creations. "I asked her how she was doing…"

Arthur stopped walking and Cobb looked up at the darkening blue sky. "I know I did wrong. Please don't make me say it." He begged.

"What happened?"

"I kissed her." The extractor said. "And I was so close to doing more. I wanted to do so much more and I would have, she would have let me. She wanted it too but Yusuf interrupted."

Arthur resumed walking until he was a safe enough distance from wanting to punch his friend. "You know I almost would have preferred it if you had slept with her because then at least you'd be out of her system and I'd have a chance. Instead you dangled what she couldn't have, stayed away. Played the tragic hero and now we're here in this situation, again."

"Listen to yourself that doesn't even make sense. She is someone I care about but I'm not in love with her. I love my wife." Cobb replied.

"No. You loved your wife but if you want to continue lying to yourself then I'm not going stop you but I'm not going to stand and watch from the sidelines either." Arthur tossed back at him.

"Where are you going?" Cobb shouted trying to keep up.

"To find her. As of right now that is my sole goal."

Cobb was so stunned by Arthur's aggressive attitude that he didn't even bother to ask where they were going. He just followed him.

Arthur was silent most of the way but he was thinking and planning, that much Cobb knew. He could almost see the wheels spinning in his head.

Arthur for his part was triumphantly surprised by how docile Cobb was. **'Must be how guilty he feels,'** his mind supplied uncharitably. Eames had told him how Cobb had insisted that she stay with him during the third layer instead of letting her go with Fischer.

That was one of the main reasons Saito had died so much quicker and gave Mal the opportunity to shoot and kill the mark. How it had been her that convinced Cobb to go into limbo to find Saito and Fischer and how prior to being hooked up, Cobb had looked at her and laid down closer so that his hand could grip hers as they went in.

The darkening sky began to drizzle and both he and Cobb soon found themselves in a downpour. The lights of the hotel district became clearer and Arthur searched through the rain for the one hotel that would bring him back to the Architect.

Hotel Monolith loomed over the rest of its fellows and Arthur had to tilt his head back to see the top of it. "Is this it?" Cobb said from behind him.

Arthur nodded but realized that given the minable visibility it was probable Cobb hadn't seen it. "Yes, I found a room key with the name of this hotel on it when I disarmed the shade."

**'Disarmed, right.'** Thought Cobb.

"I don't know that we'll be able to get in, there seems to be a guest list." Cobb yelled over the rain.

Arthur looked to where he was pointing and saw Dom talking to three very big and armed beefy men standing around the door. "Guess we'll have to crash it."

"No need gentlemen. I have invites." Eames said coming out of a side entrance.

"Eames! Finally where have you been?" Cobb asked grateful to have someone who didn't currently hate him at his side.

"Having a very interesting conversation with the young Ariadne and your double. He really is quite charming when he isn't trying to kill you."

"Yeah, well I haven't had the pleasure yet." Arthur said.

"I can't imagine why, you being the very essence of charming." Eames said rolling his eyes.

Cobb hid a smirk and approached the forger. "Tell me, honestly. How is she?"

"She is fine. Happy and aware of her surroundings. She has not been lost but." Eames paused uncomfortable to say to Cobb what he needed to know in front of the jealous point man. "He goes everywhere with her."

"I figured. Like Mal."

"No Dominic. Not like Mal. He lives and breathes only for her. She is his only desire."

"He's not real." Arthur said exasperated.

"Doesn't matter," Eames replied. "Her feelings are and its devotion to her is."

"How can you be so sure?" Cobb asked already dreading the answer.

"He is her totem."


	17. Chapter 17

**I know its been sooooo long. I am so ashamed. **

**I offer this chapter humbly.**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

**Limbo  
**

"Are you crazy?" Arthur asked several moments later as Cobb practically collapsed onto him in shock.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault." Cobb mumbled.

"What?"

"Why would you just blurt out something out like that? What's the matter with you?" he snapped and tried to get Cobb off him and back on his feet.

"It's ok. Arthur."

"Are you kidding me? If I hadn't caught you, your face would have a new dimension."

"Calm down, Arty. He's all right now besides he wanted to know, I was just informing." Eames said moving them into the shadow of the building and away from the curious projections walking into the hotel. "I don't wish to be a pessimist but that security line is only one of many obstacles we will have to overcome to get to Ariadne and you falling down on the job won't benefit us."

"We need somewhere safe." Cobb said gaining his composure.

"Alright, hold on." Eames felt around his jacket and pulled out a hand mirror.

"Really this is not the time to -" Arthur began.

"Arthur shut up. This is not for vanity though it wouldn't hurt if you tidied up a bit." Eames grinned cheekily. Arthur reached for the mirror but Cobb held him back.

"He needs it to forge." Cobb explained and Arthur relented.

Eames held up the mirror and closed his eyes. Arthur and Cobb had seen Eames transform before but it was still amazing to see and it was even more so that he was doing it without seeing his subject, which took a lot more concentration.

Eames' wide and broad shoulders narrowed as his medium height shrunk down. His short dark hair lightened to a honey brown color and lengthened till it reached past his shoulders.

The face became leaner and more delicate, the bones of his face rearranging until standing before them was the Architect. "Well?"

Cobb and Arthur nodded in approval. Eames reached into his pocket and gave Arthur a key card. "This is a master. It will get you through that service entrance and straight to the maintenance elevators and to the fifth floor. Go to room 547. Wait there until we show up."

"Why do I have to go alone?"

"Three's a crowd darling and I need to test out my Ariadne."

Arthur accepted the answer and hurried through the downpour without another word. He soon disappeared and Eames and Cobb worked their way to the hotel. "We have about five minutes before the shade reappears. He likes to keep watch and since I'm playing Ari, you'll have to play him to get in."

He nodded and Eames slid his hand into Cobb's. "Here goes nothing."

They approached the doorway but they didn't have to say anything since the doorman instantly recognized Ariadne. "Ms. Mace. Preparations for the ballroom are almost ready but if there's anything you might require."

"That is wonderful, thank you." Eames replied and patted Cobb's arm. "But that's what he's here for."

The doorman took one look at Cobb's serious face and began babbling apologetically, "of course, miss. I never meant to imply that Mr. Cobb would need any assistance, not at all."

"I could use the help." Cobb said and he got an elbow in the ribs from Eames as the doorman stopped talking and looked up curiously. "I mean, carry on."

"Carry on?" Eames said in the elevator as he changed back to himself. "What are you the queen of England? If you stay stuff like that in front of Ari, she'll now you aren't her shade for sure."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting that…"

"Level of fear?" Eames supplied.

Cobb looked at him. "Is that how she sees me?"

Eames would have made a joke but Cobb's tragic expression made him truly aware of what the man was hiding. "The Cobb I saw today was intimidating and scary but it is out of what it feels for her. It's the protector bit that terrifies the projections in this world."

"I see."

"I don't think you do. Look, how she interacts with Cobb behind closed doors is anybody's guess but there was a reason that I spent all day with them. I learned how he acts when he thinks nobody is watching and I'm going to give you a crash course on how to be yourself."

"Will Arthur go along with this since he's upset with me?"

"Doesn't matter, Arthur will be out of the way, I guarantee it. You will intercept her at the ball. I will distract the shade long enough to make the switch and then you're on your own."

"Eames…"

"You can do this. You can help her but Dom; you have to confront your feelings. You have to really be honest with her and yourself. This is the do or die moment."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, Eames perfecting his role and Cobb mentally preparing for the confrontation to come.

The door to 547 was opened and they found Arthur pouring three fingers worth of liquor into three crystal cut glasses. "I was not aware you drank, Arty."

"I don't. It makes me sick usually but I figured it wouldn't matter here."

Cobb needed no further explanation as he downed the offered glass. "So this ball, when is it?"

Eames handed over the invitation and Cobb and Arthur looked it over.

Written next to the image of a bottle wearing a tux and a champagne glass wearing a flapper dress tangoing, were bright silver embossed letters announcing the ball:

_Hotel Monolith Bids You To Ring In The New Year In Style_

_Join us for the celebration amidst the roaring 20's_

_Toasting begins at 9:00 pm sharp at the Belle Ballroom_

_Time waits for no one, don't be late!_

"Where did you get this?" Cobb asked returning the invitation.

"She gave it to me when I arrived." Eames said pouring a second glass of what he could now tell was very fine scotch, typical Arthur.

"When you arrived?" Arthur asked suspiciously.

"Is there an echo in here?" Eames asked but his playful attitude quickly turned serious as he looked at Cobb, who was inspecting the bottom of his glass thoughtfully. "Alright, spit it out. What did I do wrong?"

"Was she waiting for you?" asked Cobb.

Eames put down the glass, "yes. As a matter of fact she was. I didn't make it two steps out of that water when I spotted her at the shore."

"Was she alone?" Arthur asked urgently but Eames hesitated.

"She wasn't. Was she?" Cobb assumed.

"Are you saying?"

"Why would she wait for you when she's done everything possible to hide from Arthur and myself?" Cobb asked.

Eames smiled, "because I'm devilishly good looking."

"Please," Arthur said taking the drink that Eames had poured himself.

"Hey-" Eames protested.

"Quiet." Cobb commanded. "I need to think."

The extractor then began his trademark pacing as he thought about the situation. "Eames. You said that she was with the shade when you showed up, right?"

"Seriously, is there an echo in here?" He said but nodded when Cobb glared at him. "She was standing next to him, her head on his shoulder."

"We don't need details." Arthur growled barely keeping from slamming his glass on the table.

"She hugged me," Eames continued ignoring Arthur's outburst. "I introduced myself and he introduced himself and-"

"Get on with it." Arthur snapped.

"Stop interrupting me and I will." Eames snapped back. "I commented on how much he was like you and I asked if she was sure he wasn't the real one. That's actually a pretty funny bit, when I said that he got mad and kissed her in front of me, as if to prove he was better."

"He kissed her right in front of you and you did nothing?" Arthur asked not once looking at Dominic.

But Eames did look and he was pleasantly surprised to see that Cobb was wearing the same angry expression as his friend. "What did you want me to do? Drag her away from him and risk getting shot, how the blazes do you suppose that would help, hmm?"

"What happened after that?" Cobb interrupted but Eames could see he was trying hard to bury his curiosity about her interaction with her shade.

"I asked if she had seen either you or Arthur but she claimed that she'd only dodged Arthur but had not seen you. She is aware you are here. Her shade apparently mentioned it, though he didn't tell her everything and I got the feeling that he was hiding something from her."

"I meant to ask about that." Arthur said turning to Cobb. "What did he saying to you before I found you?"

"I told you this already. He told me you shot him and that I should worry more about you than him."

"You shot Cobb? Apparently I missed that one."

Arthur huffed, "yes and no. I shot the shade. When I got here I saw them together I tried to talk to Ariadne alone but he followed her. She said they were engaged and I asked her if she knew where she was. She said she did but she didn't remember Cobb's kids until I mentioned them. Ariadne said she needed time, left and when I realized she wasn't coming back I asked him. He told me he didn't answer to me, we got into a fight, I disarmed and shot him."

"Congratulations, Arthur. That's is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard." Eames clapped.

"What? That's what happened."

"Nothing is that cut and dry. Regardless, of what really happened." The forger threw a pointed look at Arthur. "The shade keeps things from her, things we could use to our advantage. So Cobb what did the shade say to you?"

"Why?"

"I need to know so that I can spin it properly and make it that much easier to get him away from her. We need her to turn on her shade."

Cobb glanced at Arthur and the point man nodded. "Eames is right. This is about her not you or me or whatever…" he trailed off not sure how to phrase something they were still trying to understand.

"He was waiting for me." Cobb started and waited but not interruption came. "He introduced himself as Dominic Cobb, shade and told me that I must be here for his Ari. I asked where she was. He said, _'you didn't think I was gonna make it easy for you did you?'_ I said he wasn't real and he replied that it hadn't mattered to her."

"He said the same to me," added Arthur.

Seeing the pain on Dom's face as he remembered, Eames asked gently. "What else?"

'_You can't keep her here,'_ I said and he said _'That's what he said too then she ran away from him and back to me.'_ Andthe rest you know." He finished and glanced at the two men who had been his friends for the better part of ten years. "It's what I suspect, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so." Eames replied confirming it.

"What exactly did you suspect?"

"What you said, Arthur. She continued what happened in the real world with Cobb down here with her shade. She's involved with him in every way. That is why he can hide things from her. She's completely open to it."

"It's her own mind!" Arthur shouted.

"Think of it as a split personality only here in Limbo it becomes as real as you or I."

"This is your fault." Arthur snarled and punched Cobb hard enough to knock down the other man. He would have jumped onto him and beaten him as he'd done the shade but Eames grabbed him and held him in an iron grip.

"Goddammit, get a hold of yourself." He shouted as he dragged the enraged man back. "How was he to know that she would want to-"

"Ask him. Ask the bastard how he seduced her in Paris. How he opened his mind to her and made her feel sorry for him. How he practically had her in the plane bathroom before we went under. Tell him Cobb, tell him." Arthur shouted.

Cobb laid on the ground his hand to his bloody nose and his face showing a mix of shock and hurt at being struck by his best friend.

Eames let go of Arthur and looked at Cobb. "Is he telling the truth?" Cobb didn't move. In fact he was still laying on the floor. "I asked you a question. Is he telling the truth?"

"Yes." Cobb whispered. He slowly got up but made no effort to defend himself as if waiting for Eames to take up where Arthur had stopped. "I messed up. I messed her up. I didn't…I couldn't help myself. I have done nothing to dissuade her. I didn't mean for her end up here."

Eames grabbed Arthur and led him to the door. He whispered something and Arthur silently left the room not once bothering to look back. Eames closed the door and turned to look at Cobb. "Well let me tell you that whether you meant to or not you have succeeded in your endeavor. That girl is tied to you so tightly that she may lose her mind."

"It was never supposed to get this far. I don't deserve to be near her after all I've done. After all I've put her through. She needs Arthur not me."

Eames clapped the other man on the shoulder. "You're right. You don't deserve her, not like this. You say you care about her, than prove it."

"How can this work?"

"Give her up and it will." Eames replied.

They would have three hours to make the impossible happen and time was ticking.

After having completed the mundane tasks Eames had set for him to keep occupied, Arthur checked his watch for the tenth time and glanced at the elevator banks for any signs of his colleagues. They had agreed to meet right before the beginning of the ball so as to distract the shade long enough for Cobb to get Ariadne and go.

Arthur glanced around but Eames was nowhere to be found. Of course the lobby was packed with people so it was rather difficult to spot the forger amidst all the top hats and beaded dresses.

A cigarette girl came up to him but just as he'd begun to wave her away; she slipped him a white envelope. Arthur turned it over and pulled out a slip of creamy vellum. Inked script let him know that Eames had just delivered his invitation for the New Year's Eve Gala.

Invitation in hand he walked further into the lobby and towards the immaculately decorated ballroom. He had to say the place was beautiful and Ariadne had made great use of the Art Deco design. Classic geometric designs with full sunbursts in gold integrated with deep blues were draped with bows of holly.

Everywhere he looked zigzags of seasonal red were draped over shapes of blues and golds and even the balloons being held up by a net at the top of the ceiling were shaded in crimson. A waiter passing out drinks handed him one and he settled into the charade.

Ariadne would most likely be in the Gala, **'along with Dom,'** his inner voice reminded him but he blocked it out for the moment. Eames had said that this would be the perfect opportunity to switch Dominics but if he found a way to change the arrangement and be able to spirit out Ariadne himself, he would.

Based off what he'd seen at the Fountains, she enjoyed crowds so blending in with the projections would be the next logical step.

After taking a second glass of champagne and changing into more appropriate wear, he circulated the room methodically as he carefully inspected each and every woman, though with their bob hairdos and long strands of pearls it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.

He was beginning to worry that he would not be able to spot the brunette he'd grown to care about when said brunette literally appeared to his right and with her companion in tow.

Arthur had to swallow his champagne quickly, lest he choke on it, as he got a good view of what she was wearing. The dress if it could be called that, barely reached her thighs and was almost indecently backless. The edge of the it was at least two inches of closely woven black beading and was held up with strands that hung loosely on her shoulders.

The bodice of it clung to her body like a second skin as she twirled around in it. She wore heeled shoes that gave her the extra height she needed to be with her shade.

Cobb was equally dapper in a date correct tux complete with red carnation on his lapel and he acted every inch the gentleman as the band began to play and he led her onto the dance floor and twirled her around the room as if they had been doing this all their lives.

The rest of the couples followed their lead and soon they were lost in a sea of frocks in every hue of the rainbow. Arthur skirted the sidelines in a vain attempt to keep an eye on them but only succeeded into calling attention to himself by staring at them.

Arthur kept to the edge while trying not to bump into any projections more than he had to. He'd already gotten a few less than friendly looks and he did not need that kind of attention right now. The song came to an end and he pushed aside an angry man just in time to see Cobb lean over her hand, turn it over and kiss the inside of her wrist.

The shade looked up from her hand and smirked at Arthur.

Dominic quickly left her on the pretext of getting a drink and Arthur made his move. He shoved his way past a few more projections and ran out into the service area with the shade in hot pursuit.

He turned to check his progress but to his dismay he found that the shade had left him to the mercy of one of the goons they had seen outside the hotel earlier.

"Where is he?"

"I'm sorry, sir. He is in a private party." The goon said blocking the way back into the ballroom.

"I was invited by Miss Ariadne." Arthur coolly slid the envelope from his inner pocket and waved it, "…personally."

The men shifted his tux jacket giving Arthur a good look at the revolver in its holster. "Your invitation is no longer valid, sir."

Arthur began backing up but the very large and solid body behind him halted him. **'Goon number 2.'**

**Back in the ballroom**

"It's quite alright." Eames replied tucking his invitation back into his pocket. " But I would like a word with Ms. Mace, is she available?"

The master of ceremonies signaled a waiter bearing full glasses and handed one to Eames, "I am afraid that she is otherwise occupied but I'd be happy to deliver a message."

Eames declined and the man resumed his duties. He saw Arthur be spotted and pursued by the shade out of the ballroom and into the service areas. Eames took out his mirror and went to work.

Cobb adjusted his mask and waited for the signal. He saw Arthur take off with the shade in hot pursuit and saw Eames change into Ariadne and go after the shade. **'Here goes nothing.'**

"I thought you forgot all about me."

"I could never do that." He replied honestly.

Ariadne peered at him through her mask and he wondered if she had already figured out who he really was. He gave an internal sigh of relief as she took the drink from his hand and entwined her arm through his.

"You went to check on them, didn't you?"

He pulled her to the side of the refreshment table and put down their drinks. "They're all here now. You know what they're going to do."

"Of course I do. It will all work accordingly, stop worrying." She rose on her tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Just for tonight, stop worrying and show me that good time you promised me."

He nodded and they went back onto the dance floor.


	18. Chapter 18

**I think I might have the end this weekend. I will not promise anything of course. Thanks for the lovely reviews and sorry for the wait. Hopefully I can continue adding to the Ariadne/Cobb pairing. **

**Enjoy...**

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Limbo - Hotel Montcrieff - Room 528

He stepped through the threshold and pocketed the key card.

Apparently she'd been busy, the room was a mess and glass was broken all over the floor, evidenced by the constant crunching under his feet. He stepped on something harder that glass and bent down to retrieve it.

The not spinning totem was on it side beside a crushed champagne flute. He picked it up and examined it but he already knew who's it was and what it being here signified.

Knowing he would not like what he was about to see but with an urgency she had implanted in him, Dominic pushed the bedroom door open and spied her and the man he was a duplicate of, lying asleep and tangled together in the bed that had once been his and Ariadne's.

Dominic walked further into the room wishing the other man away for making him waste several hours trying to pinpoint where Eames and Arthur had disappeared to after he'd found his two guards dead, allowing him to take what was his rightful place next to the sleeping woman.

He could easily kill Cobb now but Ariadne had told him not to harm any of them and he liked pleasing her in any way he could. Not that he had time to really contemplate the action since according to the alarm clock on the nightstand and his watch, he looked to double check, they were already off schedule and would be further delayed if he didn't wake her up.

Time was precious, he knew this better than most but something was holding him back from disturbing her. Something that felt very much like fear. Fear that she wouldn't want to come or that she would banish him and say she no longer needed him with the real thing next to her.

He shook his head and stared down at their interlocked fingers for a second.

As afraid as he was, Dominic wanted to sear this scene into his mind so that whenever he felt weak, whenever he started to plead with her to stay, he could hold onto his resolve. He could use it to remind him, where and with whom she really belonged.

He branded the sight of her with Cobb's arm draped along her midsection. Her side intimately pressed up against Cobb's. Took in the way Cobb's chest rose and fell peacefully and concentrated extra hard on the smile on the man's sleeping face that would have looked odd on his normally serious one.

He couldn't fault Cobb for being taken by the young Architect, anymore than he, Dominic had been.

**'Haven't I woken up with her just like this, since that fateful day when she'd given herself over in that hotel room, the night she lost it and allowed me to comfort her? Hadn't she allowed me to caress and kiss her, as she had no doubt let this Cobb? Could I really begrudge him the one thing that made my relationship with Ariadne even feasible? Could I fault them for finally giving in to the yearning and desire that had set me free to be with her?'**

He signed, no he couldn't. Just like he couldn't stop himself from gazing at her face pillowed on the other man's chest. Like he couldn't stop absorbing the look of contentment that he'd never seen when she had laid on him. Not once in all the time they'd been together had she allowed herself the freedom to wear that look.

He briefly considered tracing the marks Cobb had left on her soft skin but he was torturing himself enough by just standing there. Thankfully most of their bodies were covered but enough of her was visible to confirm that she'd indeed gone through with her secondary plan.

He knew that this could happen, that it was going to happen at some point. Hell she'd discussed it with him and let him rant that he didn't like it. He hadn't thought she would have to resort to it here in Limbo. In fact Dominic has been confident that what he was seeing now would never come to pass while he drew breath, clearly he'd been wrong.

He gently shook her shoulder and she stirred only to snuggle closer to Cobb's body. He grimaced and shook her a little harsher than he intended. Even with the rough treatment she opened her eyes and smiled at him.

He smiled back sadly; because how else can you smile when your heart is breaking.

"Is it time?" she said gazing up at him through her tousled hair.

"Yes. We have to leave or they will find us and they'll drag you out."

She nodded and tried to get out from under Cobb's arm but the sleeping man only clasped her closer and she gasped in surprise. "Give me a minute."

Dominic said nothing and barely restrained himself from slamming the door. Ariadne took more than a minute before she came out, dressed in only Cobb's shirt, pulling at it occasionally while holding her dress from the party with the other hand. "You could have made up new clothing," he accused.

Ariadne noted his a hurt look and shook her head. "You said we didn't have time."

"We don't. We need to go."

"I know. I want you to take care of what we discussed and meet me downstairs."

"Is this a good idea, right now? With him so close?" Dominic asked motioning to the closed bedroom.

"No. It's not but I have no choice. I'm not ready to go back and I won't let them force me. No matter what I feel for him."

"If you get caught-"

Ariadne stopped him and gave him a hug. He knew she was trying to show him that she trusted him above all others but it was hard to focus on that when she smelled so much like the other him. "They won't separate us. I leave on my terms not theirs. You are one of those terms. Got that."

He nodded through the lump in his throat and gave her a quick one-armed hug. "I expect you back," he said and left the room. He got into the elevator trusting that Ariadne would not lie to him. She never had and he didn't see her starting now.

The doors closed and he never heard the ping of the other elevator or see Arthur get off and head straight for her room.

Ten Hours Earlier – Outside ballroom

'**Goon number 2.'** Arthur thought.

"Look guys, we are all adults here. There is no need for this kind of violence." Arthur said then quickly shot forward and barreled his knee into goon number one. Caught off guard by the move goon number two was still standing in the same spot and in perfect position for Arthur to pull his gun and shoot him. The man toppled like a tree.

Goon number one managed one good punch but Eames came up behind him and snapped his neck. "I knew that I was going to have a good time," he said surveying the two dead bodies.

"Now what?" Arthur asked holstering the gun.

"We wait for Cobb deux to show up and lead him on…what was it you said on the Fischer job? Ah yes, we'll lead him on a merry chase and give Cobb time to con Ariadne and get us all out."

"What makes you think he didn't forget me here with the hope that these two would finish the job? He knows the real Cobb is here. He won't leave her unprotected."

"That's true. Perhaps we can pretend that she is already with us."

"How?"

"I believe I can help." Mal said from behind them.

"Hello love. Forgot you were here too."

"If only." Arthur muttered.

"Cher, what a horrible thing to say. Aren't you glad to see me after all this time?"

Arthur knew very well that Cobb had no idea of the real nature of the relationship between he and Mal but the way she was eying him made him nervous that the Extractor hadn't been as oblivious as Arthur had always assumed he'd been.

"I'd be glad to see you if it was really you, which you are not. How can you help?" he said changing the subject and not looking at Eames, who was shrewdly glancing at the two of them.

"Well it's simple. That Cobb may be a shade but he is still Cobb in some way and I am his wife. That should be enough for Eames to do his little trick."

Eames gladly agreed and Mal entered the ballroom and caught the eye of the Cobb shade just as Ariadne and the real Cobb stepped onto the dance floor. Eames took out his mirror and instantly changed into the petite Architect and pulled Arthur into the act.

"I do not feel comfortable with this." Arthur said spinning fake Ariadne at the outskirts of the ballroom.

"Live a little, think you'll be able to tell our grandchildren about this." Eames/Ariadne said and nuzzled Arthur's high collar.

Arthur put distance between them, "A. there is no us. B. it is scientifically impossible for us to have children much less grandchildren. C. I would never tell any of my descendants about my highly illegal days and D. I think I could do better, Eames."

"I was talking about you and Ariadne but you and I could be intriguing."

"Why are we having this conversation again?" Arthur asked rubbing his forehead.

"Because we need to call the shade's attention and we just did. So darling, how do feel about a literal merry chase. Can you build here?"

Arthur glanced into the ballroom and saw Mal dancing with the shade and pointing at them. "I'm not an architect. I've always been Point besides I don't know the rules of limbo."

"There are no rules as far as I can tell and you'll have to learn on the run because he's coming for us and he does not look happy." Eames slipped off the heels and took off running yanking Arthur with him. Arthur spun them into a side room that he turned into a corridor.

"Ok, so no rules." Arthur panted and let go of Eames' hand.

Eames pushed open another door, "lead on Paradox King."

They hurried into the room and broke through a wall and turned it into a spiral staircase. "I'll lead him this way and you go after Cobb and Ariadne."

"Careful, Eames."

"Yes, your highness."

The chase eventually lead back to the ballroom and Arthur entered it as inconspicuously as possible. Unfortunately before he could get any closer to Ariadne and what he assumed was the real Cobb, several waiters began crowding around him.

He tried to wave them off but they kept insisting he take a drink and it was clear that the shade had left instructions to look for any unruly guests and not wishing to start a fight with more projections, Arthur played along and took a glass. The waiters dispersed but not until he took a sip.

He swallowed cautiously and felt the room spin a little. Two men materialized from out of the crowd and reached for him just as he would have hit the floor. They led him to a nearby table in full view of the bandstand and the dance floor.

They let him slump onto the chair and discreetly walked away from him. He cursed his stupidity and hoped that Eames was having better luck just as he felt the world float away. Several hours later a distinctly disturbed Eames shook him awake, "oh good. I thought I was going have to carry you."

"Noneedtodothat," Arthur slurred.

"What?"

"Noneedtodothat," he tried again.

"Still not understanding. Wow, they must have given you something really strong." Eames said experimentally sniffing several glasses on the table.

"Imok." He said and stood up only to slide through Eames' arms.

"No you're not but no worries. Cobb and Ariadne are still here but I think that is about to change and Cobb number two just got here. I'll be back."

Arthur waved as Eames became Ariadne and wheeled the shade back out of the ballroom. With great effort he staggered up and made slow progress toward the couple of architects. He reached out and collapsed almost on top of two security guys, who began dragging him out.

He looked about desperately to see where Ariadne was, though she was close to his side of the room, she was still too far from his reach and the guys that had hold of him didn't seem like they would be letting go any time soon. Eames was nowhere to be seen so he was on his own or so he had thought.

"Gentlemen, lets not do anything hasty. It is a party after all, he's just a few too many. I'll care for him," a woman with a familiar French accent commented.

"Madam Hart, we were not aware this person was with you. Our apologies." The two men let go of Arthur and stepped away.

"Of course you didn't. You're only doing your jobs, n'est pas?

"Yes, again our apologies."

Mal smiled graciously and they departed like lovesick schoolboys. "I do love projections. So simple." Arthur squinted at her and Mal snagged two glasses of water. "Here, drink this."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked after he downed the water.

"I am here to help. Just remember that it is a party, enjoy it and don't stare too much. I'm not an enemy but I'm not a friend either. You know the rules."

"There aren't any rules in Limbo." Arthur answered feeling the grogginess of the drink fading.

"Precisely," Mal said and melted back to wherever she had come from leaving Arthur with nothing but the cryptic remark.

He drank another glass and turned back to where Ariadne had been but she was gone along with Cobb. Cursing under his breath he realized that the duo had been nothing but a distraction. He looked around and saw Ariadne being led by Cobb out the door.

Arthur raced past it and found himself in the lobby. He ran past the concierge but when he made it outside, he didn't see anybody. **'Had he missed them by that much?'** He ran back inside and asked the man at the desk if he'd seen Ms. Mace.

The man said that he'd seen her and that of course she'd been with Mr. Cobb. He asked which room but the man politely told him he could not give that information out.

Arthur thanked him and walked into the main elevator hub. He idly wondered how many floors and rooms the place had and groaned at the mere prospect of chasing Ariadne through her building like mouse after cheese.

He pressed the top floor and began his search. As he expected they lost him easily, not surprising since she was a maze builder and Cobb had been her teacher and he'd been the best before her. He tried to remember everything he'd learned about her skills and what Cobb had told him about dream boundary manipulations.

Everybody from Extractor to Tourist had their own quirks. Everybody had some sort of pattern they liked to repeat in their levels. He just had to figure hers out, he already knew Cobb's and he was confident that was half the battle.

Many hours later and he was truly lost. He had tried at first to expose the weakness of the place but he could find no paradoxes and he knew there had to be but she had hidden them very well. To make matters worse every time he tried to open more areas, the parts where he'd been were swallowed up and he'd have to start all over.

Limbo certainly had its own rules and they seemed to be making sure that he could not find Ariadne unless she wanted to be found, which he guessed she didn't, not if she had the real Cobb. He could see now that both Mal and Ariadne had one thing in common, both were after the former Architect.

No wonder his poor Mal had been unwilling to leave and haunted Cobb so.

Exhausted from trying to figure out Ariadne's mind he began to randomly stop on floors. He was on the fourth floor when he spotted Cobb or Cobb's double, he wasn't sure. Arthur waited in the shadows until the man went into an elevator.

As soon as the doors closed Arthur looked at the dial to see where it stopped, it stopped on the fifth floor. He pushed the up button on the elevator to the right and hopped in. He pushed the sixth floor button and once out he sat and waited for an hour before climbing back in.

He didn't want to run into the shade or the real Cobb. He was hoping either one would led him to Ariadne and possibly give him the opportunity of talking to Ariadne alone for a few precious moments. His door pinged open and he stepped out but he saw that the elevator to the right had just started its descent.

**'Who had I missed? Cobb or the shade? Or maybe Ariadne, herself?'** Arthur hoped not and instead quickly made his way down the hallway. The layout was almost identical to the one he'd made in the Fischer Job and he felt proud that she had wanted to replicate his design. **'That's not all she replicated.'** A nasty little voice reminded him ruining his good feeling.

He ignored the voice but it did give him a good idea. He looked more closely at the room numbers searching for a specific set. It wasn't going to be 491 since they were on the fifth floor so the only number it could be, if his hunch was right, would be 528.

He saw the number and knocked on the door, "Ariadne?"

"I told you, Dominic. I'd be out in twenty. Its not be more than five don't be so impatient," she said throwing the door open.

"I'm afraid Dominic will have to wait."


	19. Chapter 19

**Wow this chapter was horrible to get right. One more to end it.**

**Enjoy...**

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"Art…Arthur what are you…is it really you?" she asked and forgetting she was wearing nothing more than a man's shirt she pulled him in for a hug. "I thought…"

He hastily extracted himself and nodded. He didn't want to think about how good it had felt to have her body so close to his. "Get some clothes on, we're leaving."

"Leaving? Why would I want to leave?"

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

"Of course, I know where I am. I haven't lost my mind. I'm not Mal."

"Really, because you looked awful cozy with her husband." He said eyeballing her shirt.

Ariadne squirmed giving an answer to his suspicion but she didn't back down. "He's not her husband anymore, he's a widower. He's entitled to a little happiness after everything she put him through."

"What she put him through?" he grabbed her arm and dragged her into her room. "Do you even know what he did? Do you know what he forced her to do?"

Ariadne looked surprised to be seeing such an angry side to him but Arthur was tired of women he loved and cared for falling in love with his best friend. He was tired of being the one who picked up the pieces after it went wrong like he was doing right now.

"Let me guess you saw what happened to her?" he grilled her no longer carrying that they were in limbo and that she was just as much a victim as Cobb was. "Did he show you how he pestered her to go deeper? How he kept telling her they needed sedation to achieve the ultimate level of dream share?"

"No," Ariadne fired back, "did you see what she did to their hotel room on the night of their anniversary? Did you see how she tortured him with visions of their children? Were you there when she told him he had to stay with her and then plunged a knife into his stomach?"

"Ari,"

"No, you don't call me that. You don't get to call me that. Not when you don't know all the facts, not when you are carrying around some sainted version of what she was like. Not-"

"You saw all that?" he waved away his own question. "What you saw was out of context, you don't know all the details. You've just started scratching the surface."

"I'm not stupid I know what I saw. She wouldn't let him go-"

"She was going to leave him." Arthur interrupted.

"What?"

"She was going to leave him." He said more quietly, "she was tired of competing with the dreams for his attention and his love." Ariadne stared at him in shock, "a week before they went under, she had contacted her lawyer and was filing divorce papers. She told me because she needed an ally. I thought she told me because she loved me."

Arthur sat down on the bed and looked up at the Architect. "We had a brief romance. It was mostly when Cobb was gone on long jobs and obviously before she was pregnant. We would keep each other company at first but then it was staying the night because we had to map out details of the various jobs we had to do. Then it was because the weather was bad or she didn't want to be alone."

"Cobb didn't?"

"Cobb." Arthur scoffed. "The sun rose and set on Mal and I was his best friend. He never would have believed that we would ever…that we had."

"Why?"

Arthur shrugged miserably. "One night of too many glasses of wine. The first time there was so much guilt but as Cobb was away longer and longer the guild lessened. Then it became something else for me and then everything went bad real fast."

Ariadne shook her head, "what about the kids-?"

"They're his." Arthur answered her question and kept going, "she loved him and was never fully invested in our relationship the way I was. She broke it off after James was born. Said that there were too many things that could go wrong if Dominic found out."

"You said she was different from what Cobb projected."

"She was and she wasn't. Mal could be ruthless when she wanted something. She made Dom promise that after this last job, he would be out of the business."

"He agreed? But he loves it."

"Yes he did. He was born for dream share and he had so much natural ability but he loved Mal more and I know that something in him broke when she told him he had to stop."

"If he stopped why did she end up ki…dying?"

Arthur began pacing and Ariadne almost said aloud that he was acting like Cobb but his face was so distraught that she kept silent.

"He said that if he had to stop that they had to go at least three levels deep before he retired. Mal didn't want to but ultimately I convinced her. I said it would save her marriage and ultimately keep Cobb from resenting her for making him quit."

"You were there weren't you? When they went in."

"I monitored them. We had figured it would only take six or seven hours to go all the way down and back but none of us counted on falling into the fourth level. Into the undiscovered dream space," he shuddered.

Arthur stopped pacing and sat back on the bed. He could still see their bodies lying on the floor of the cabin. Fingers loosely interlocked and faces peaceful. It had been beautiful and macabre and as the hours passed he began to feel as if he was conducting a wake.

"Eight hours went by and they didn't stir, I began to panic. I tried to pull them out but they just lay there like giant dolls. After twelve hours passed without any luck, I called Miles and he rushed over."

"Did he have any idea what they were going to do?"

"No, he would never have allowed it and would have confiscated the PASIV, if he'd known what they were planning. He had the only one that actually worked, the rest were still in the building phase. He warned Mal about pushing Dom and when he saw what had happened, he was furious. Told me that I should have put a stop to it, that it had been reckless of me to let them do it. We got into an argument and I blurted out that Mallorie only did it to appease Dominic otherwise she would have left him."

Ariadne sat down beside Arthur and took his hand, "and?"

"Miles laughed. He told me I was naïve if I really thought she'd leave her husband and children for me. He said Mallorie only cares about Mallorie. He told me that it pained him to say it but his daughter was selfish and when she wanted something she did everything in her power to get it but that once she had it she'd grow bored and would discard it like a broken toy."

"Was it true?"

"Yes, I realized fourteen hours later when they came back that she had come back as she really was. Gone was the facade of care that she wore. She wanted things and in limbo she received what she wanted when she wanted it. She'd become spoiled and the real world could not hold up to that anymore. I couldn't and Dom couldn't and she broke us both in the process."

"She came to you, didn't she?"

"I let myself believe her one last time and we slept together. She swore she was leaving Dom but that I had to do her a favor first. She asked for a psychiatrist I could trust. I refused and she turned mean. Told me why would she leave her husband for someone like me that no woman in her right mind would choose me over Dominic. She was right."

"Oh, Arthur. She was sick, I'm sure she didn't mean it." Ariadne patted his hand.

"Let's be honest Ari. You chose him otherwise you would not be here now and I can understand that but I don't have to like it or give up on you."

"Did Dominic ever find out?" she asked instead.

"No, I never dared to tell him. After she died I went to the lawyer, he was a good friend of mine and as a favor, he destroyed the papers. Dominic had enough issues in his life. I couldn't let him know that what she had really been to me or what I had allowed to happened. What she had done or how I had been her willing accomplice. I wished I had never done it."

"This is exactly why I can't leave yet. There are things; I still need to do for me to let go of this place and move on. I don't want to be haunted by it like Dom is. I want to find a way to help him and the only way is to find out what it is about Limbo that holds so much heartache."

"No. Being here helps no one, least of all you two. I won't allow it and you know Dom will fight tooth and nail to get you to come back. Can you really say no to him?" Ariadne hugged the shirt to herself. "I thought not."

"You don't understand," she pleaded.

"I don't have to. You will be going home though, today either with him or me. Its your choice," he said tugging on her arm and resolving to drag her up if he had to. He knew that if he waited for Eames, he could lose her again in her labyrinth.

"You can't make me." Ariadne said her stance suddenly more firm.

"You okay?" He heard Cobb ask and it sent a tendril of anger up his spine. **'Well isn't that just wonderful. How appropriately protective of you, Mr. Cobb.'**

"Where were you?" She asked and Cobb draped a jacket over her shoulders and pulled her out of Arthur's hold.

"I said I'd be back. Are you okay?" the shade asked again.

"I'm fine," she answered and he tucked her neatly to his side.

To say it made him hostile to see that tenderness directed at Ariadne was an understatement. **'She's making him love her. That isn't Cobb. Cobb doesn't care about anything but his kids and his guilt. When had she let these feelings take over?' **He had thought she'd be more of a fighter. He had expected her to fight Limbo not give herself over to it.

"Ariadne, he's not real. The real Cobb is so damaged, you've seen it."

Yet even with the evidence before his eyes, Arthur still couldn't associate this damsel in distress with the same Ariadne that had yelled at Cobb during their first meeting.

'_That's some subconscious you have there, Cobb. She's a real charmer.'_

"What do you want to do?" Cobb asked her squeezing her and dropping a kiss on her head.

Ariadne stepped into her shoes and held his hand, "we leave as planned."

"Saito was right. It's worse than I thought. It's worse than any of us thought. You're letting the fantasy of what you want take over." He said gripping her arms in desperation, "fight it."

"I was wondering when you'd say that." The shade said inserting himself between Arthur and Ariadne. The look he gave the Point Man was full of pity and understanding.

"You knew we would come for her." He said once again trying to get closer to the Architect.

"I knew he would come for her but not you. What are you really doing here?" the man asked.

"She doesn't belong here. You are an illusion."

"She was waiting for him. She's had him and now she's leaving with me." Dom said whipping out his gun and shoving Arthur's shoulder with it. "What makes you think that she'd leave with you if she won't stay for him?"

He gripped Arthur by the neck and pressed the barrel against his chest and over his heart, "though I know I have nothing to worry about, I will shoot if you get any closer to her. You have no business here so leave her alone or next time I won't be so courteous."

"My business is her," Arthur said pulling himself loose. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be." The man threatened.

"Don't kill him," she said quietly.

"I won't." Dominic answered.

"Close your eyes, Arthur. Don't make it any harder than it needs to be."

"Ariadne?" Dominic asked. Arthur saw her nod and turn away.

When Arthur came around the first thing he noticed was that his head hurt. The second was that Ariadne and her shade were gone.

"Dammitt!"

"Arthur, what are you doing here?"

Arthur rose from the couch he'd been laid on and touched the knot on the back of his head gingerly, "that is going to definitely leave a mark. Damm bastard."

"What the hell happened to you? Who hit you?"

"You did," Arthur replied sourly as he patted himself down and realized that the shade had taken his guns. "And you stole my guns."

"She left with him didn't she." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah I'm not sure how long ago."

"Doesn't matter, time works differently here." Cobb said gathering his shirt and jacket from the couch where it had been dumped when he and Ariadne had gotten more involved.

"Were you with her?" Arthur asked not really looking at him.

"Yes I was."

"I guess I lose again."

"It was never a contest." Cobb replied.

"I know. It was pretty obvious from the beginning wasn't it?"

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant that things just happened."

"Was this the first time? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Cobb buttoned up his shirt and put on the rumpled tux jacket. "It was but I don't think it counts. Its not real is it. I mean it felt real but it isn't. The real us are up there."

Arthur nodded and handed Cobb something off the floor. "You dropped this."

Cobb held the totem tightly. It had once meant so much but now it was just a reminder of what he had lost and could still loose. "You are my best friend, Arthur. I hope you know that regardless of what this has done to our friendship."

"I know. So do you have any idea where they went?"

"Yeah. I do. She mentioned a house and I'm pretty sure I know which one."

"Well I suppose we should leave then."

Eames met them at the lobby with Mal in tow and Cobb immediately reacted. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"That's a nice how do you do for someone who worked their tail off to get rid of a certain pesky shade."

"I appreciate what you did, Eames but she goes no further."

"Why not, Dom? Afraid I'll tell your colleagues about the disgusting display of lust you and that little girl were in engaged in a few hours ago."

"How did you?"

"I'm a shade darling. I go anywhere you go. I must say that she was particularly enthusiastic every time you-"

"Enough." All eyes locked on Arthur. "Whatever it is you're playing at will not work. Stop the insinuations and the clever words; we don't have time for that. If you have anything useful to contribute I suggest you do or get the hell out of our sight."

"Fine. Your precious Ariadne and her shade went that way." Mal pointed towards the beach.

"Are you sure? There's nothing but ocean that way."

"That is the information I have. They headed that way."

"I know where they are." Cobb said looking paler by the minute.

"Why do I have the feeling we are not going to like this," Eames muttered as they made their way past the main city and out into the dilapidated skyscraper that was part of the original Mal's design.

"You're not going to. That place has nothing but bad memories." Cobb said.

"Not all bad," Mal offered but she said nothing else when Cobb and Arthur both glared at her.

The other houses he and Mal had built had been completely demolished and only ocean remained around them. A bridge connected the original mass he had created and the new section Ariadne had put together. Eames noticed that the bridge was exactly like the one he'd seen in the old pictures of Mal and Dom.

Cobb shaded his eyes from the artificial sun and looked up at the apartment house hybrid where he had confronted his guilt and learned that the Architect he'd trained was more incredible than someone like him deserved.

"Shall we go in?" Arthur asked pulling out his gun.

Cobb and Eames followed suit and a quick search of the lobby by the three men showed it was devoid of any armed personnel. "I don't think it's as bad as you two think," Eames said holstering his weapon. Arthur rolled his eyes at him and got into the elevator with Mal bringing up the rear.

Cobb pushed the button and she whispered in his ear. "Home sweet home."


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay I finished. Didn't think it was going to happen but there you are. (There will be a sequel but I have no idea when I'll start it. I have two other massive stories on my plate and I need to finish several others. The trailer for the sequel is in my profile and will be called Out of Limbo.)  
**

**Enjoy._  
_**

* * *

**_Ten Hours Earlier – Ballroom_**

"_You're more serious than usual," she observed._

"_Am I? I'm sorry."_

"_Come on Dom, dance like you mean it," she said and he saw that they were moving a lot slower than all the other couples in the room. "And smile, it's a party. You are allowed to enjoy yourself."_

"_Sorry," he said again._

"_You should be. You're ruining my good time." She whispered loudly._

"_Am I really?" He asked pulling her a little closer than the dance warranted._

"_Well not now," she said enjoying their banter._

"_So about Eames and Arthur?"_

_Ariadne groaned, "stop. I don't want to hear about them or anybody else for that matter."_

"_You mean?"_

"_You know very well who I mean. Incidentally when were you going to tell me you talked to him?"_

_He smirked, "I thought you didn't want to talk about him."_

_She halted mid-step and the shades around them did too. "I didn't but since you brought it up, why did you hide that you talked to him and what exactly did you say?"_

_Knowing full well the violent nature of projections and how the dreamer's agitation would be picked up by them, Cobb swung her back into the rhythm of the song ensuring the groups around them did as well, "I didn't tell you because I wanted things to be perfect for you. I didn't want to worry you."_

_She rested her head on his chest and he fought the urge to caress her hair, "and the other thing."_

_Cobb didn't fight himself any longer and bent down lowering his mouth to hers. "I told him I wasn't going to make it easy for him."_

_Her eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips to hers. "You mean it?" _

_He shrugged, "it's true. I'm not going to let him have you."_

_Her face softened, "he can't have me if I belong to you." _

**'**_**Not yet.'**_

_The song ended and he pulled her off the dance floor and to an elaborate table that had to be theirs. The shade of hers really knew how to spoil her. "You want anything to drink?"_

"_Get a waiter." She said holding onto his hand. "This night is just for us, remember? You promised that you'd make it up to me for being apart all those weeks."_

"_I did, didn't I? So what does my lady want?" he asked bowing deeply._

"_Talk about déjà vu. You remember when I first got to limbo and you were with me and you did that at the airport. All those women were just glaring at me because I had this ridiculously handsome man bowing at my hand. I missed that side of you. You've been so serious of late."_

"_I didn't realize." Cobb apologized though genuinely curious about the airport incident._

_She waved away his apology. "It's my fault, we been trying so hard to get everything situated that I've been overworking you and look at what that got me. Now you really do look like Cobb. Smile for me, I don't like it when I can't tell the difference."_

_He wiped the scowl off his face and smiled but his mind screamed in fury at the idea that she couldn't tell the difference. __**'Wasn't this exactly what I warned her about? Creating from memory and loosing yourself to it? Though it didn't look like she was losing herself to it as much as she was giving in to it wholeheartedly,' **__he thought bitterly._

_Several projections came by and congratulated them on an excellent party and Cobb smiled charmingly until they were out of earshot and he could whisper fiercely. "That is exactly why you should be using your totem."_

"_I am using my totem."_

"_You know that using me for that is dangerous." He said running a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair. She eyed him and he dropped his hand. He had to be careful, Eames had told him not to act too much like himself. _

**'**_**How the hell am I supposed to act? How much of my personality had Ariadne added to the shade and why does it bother me that she didn't want an exact duplicate when she's supposed to in love with me?'  
**_

"_I don't want to argue. We had this talk earlier. I know it's dangerous but it's only for a little bit longer. I promise once we go back to the house, I'll use my bishop." _

_He shook his head at her teasing grin and escorted her up to the dais where their table was situated. "So onto the games? Or dinner first?" she asked him._

"_Dinner sounds good right now."_

_He motioned to the waiters milling around and they instantly began circling their large table with delicious smelling dishes. Their guests oohed and aahed as the food was uncovered. The headwaiter, Raul, not to be outdone by his staff, kept the larger of the silver platters on its little cart and lifted the lids with a flourish. _

_An array of delicacies; everything from fried shrimp and clams to delicately thin sliced sirloin sat in several smaller individual covered dishes in the first platter while the second held a variety of side dishes like small potatoes and rice and a third platter held cornbread and bread rolls of almost every type that smelled heavenly and made hunger clench in Dom's stomach. _

_A beautiful redhead in a slinky green dress came onto the stage and began to croon into the microphone. The music was low and hummed all around them while the lighting was dimmed turning the grand room into an intimate booth for two._

_She picked out a couple of clams and he did the same. They ate off each other's plates cocooned by the darkness and romantic music. They took turns picking various entrées and cut them into bite size pieces to share. By the time they finished sampling a little bit of everything both were full and happily awaiting coffee and dessert._

"_I don't know that I can really eat dessert right know." She said softly and he admired the way the light played off her face._

"_We could always retire early." Slipped out of his mouth and she blushed appreciatively._

_Thankfully Raul interrupted Cobb's sudden boldness by bringing out a cart full of decadent deserts that would have made Mal scream about her waistline. "You choose," she said._

_He looked at the red velvet cakes topped with chocolate ganache, the cheesecakes surrounded with lush red raspberries and the individual cupcakes that looked like mini pieces of art._

_He finally settled on a dessert tower called a crockenbush, it definitely would appeal to both of their Architect sensibilities and was something he had fond memories of making, when he and Eames had gotten stuck in that cooking class getting to know their target better._

_Ariadne saw what he picked and smiled approvingly. She broke off a piece of the doughnut-like cream puff and bit into it. The liquid sugar that was drizzled on the little puff coated her lips and she leaned forward and planted a hot sticky kiss on him. _

_She moved back and popped the rest of it into her mouth with satisfaction. Dom followed suit and planted a sugary smooch on her inner wrist. Realizing that she was sorely tempting his control he ate the rest of treat quick so as to avoid any more affectionate displays to which she frowned._

_Raul returned after dessert and the lights came back on full blast for the rest of the evening's celebration. Dom would have still been enjoying the afterglow of her kiss had it not been replaced by dread as a familiar shade caught his attention._

_Out of the corner of his eye, Dom saw security escorting out an apparently inebriated man. He looked to Ariadne and she reluctantly inclined her head as if to say go deal with it if you must, but before he could get up and investigate why Mal was circling the man, Dom recognized him._

_It was Arthur and upon closer inspection, Dom saw that he was moving sluggishly as if he had been drugged. He left his dessert and stood up to rescue his fellow team member but she beat him to it._

_Mal was all smiles and charm as usual and he watched in shock as she spoke to the security and talked them into letting Arthur go. He turned back to see if Ariadne had noticed, because if she caught sight of Mal, she'd know for sure that he was the real Cobb and all their planning would be for naught and he wasn't ready for their night to end just yet._

_Ariadne luckily was preoccupied with Raul selecting the night's next amusement. Cobb sat back down but kept a wary eye on his point man, he didn't trust Mal so close to Arthur or Ariadne not that he had much of a choice. _

_His companion gave a last set of instructions to Raul and he went on to deliver them to the singer, who announced that they would be starting the activities part of the program._

_Cobb took one last look and realized that Arthur was now alone and Mal was heading towards their table. Knowing he'd only had one shot at doing this right, he tapped Ariadne on the shoulder and beckoned her to stand up and dance with him before the games started._

_She tried to tell him she was too full but he gave her his most suave smile and talked her into it. Mal saw his move and disappeared into the crowd with an ugly look on her pale face._

_Crisis averted for the moment, Dom settled into the dance and the lovely feeling of having his Architect in his arms. They swayed back and forth and her arms that barely reached his neck with her shoes on, wound around it and toyed with the fine hairs at his nape._

_He shivered and she rested her head to his chest. "I wish we could stay this way."_

"_Why can't we?" he asked not bothering to think about Limbo and all the other reasons that told him that this couldn't work, ever. That they would fall apart after a few years and he would lose her as surely as he'd lost Mal and he wasn't strong enough to withstand the loss of someone he cared about for a second time._

"_You know why," she said. "But it doesn't mean we can't enjoy it while we are here."_

"_That is certainly true. I enjoyed it immensely while Dom and I were here, didn't we dear?"_

"_Mal?" Ariadne twisted to see the French woman that she'd hoped to never see again looking elegant and regal as usual. The shade made no comment about their closeness but the venomous glare she was throwing at Ariadne made it pretty obvious what she thought of it._

"_Hello dear." Mal waved her fingers at the stunned couple._

"_Mal, why are you…why is she here…is she here with you…I thought…" Ariadne trailed off confusion settling on her features as she looked to Dom for answers._

"_Ari, I can explain." Ariadne tried to get out of his arms but he was holding her tightly and attempting to calm her down, "she is not the same Mal that you knew. She's trying to help me."_

"_You are not my shade, he would not know her. You're the real Cobb!" Ariadne whispered and betrayal and hurt spread across her face. "She still here and you were supposed to get rid of her. You were supposed to let her go."_

"_I came for you and she's different. She's here to help. She has nothing to do with us."_

"_What us?" she screeched._

"_Us, here. What is happening right now, don't you see it?"_

"_You acted like…the whole time…I don't believe this, I don't. You lied to me. You pretended to be-how could you?"_

"_Ari."_

"_Stop calling me that!" She yelled and all the noise and movement stopped._

"_They're looking at you. I'd change my tone if I were you. After all Dom here is not the dreamer." Mal said and sailed away from them, her job done._

"_I'm fine. I'm fine but I think I…I'm not feeling…I may have hurt my foot," she said loudly so as to dispel the suspicious looks of her guests. Cobb lifted her into his arms and the projections parted to let him through. _

_She smiled benignly at her concerned partiers reassuring them all that she would be okay but dug her nails into Dom's neck painfully to show him her anger was not gone. He winced but didn't say a word since he figured he deserved it for lying to her._

_One of the staff led them to a sitting room and asked if she needed to see a doctor. "I need to sit down that is all," she said and appropriately made a sound of discomfort as Dom set her down._

"_Continue the music but assure everybody that Ms. Mace is ok but she twisted her ankle and will not be attending further. Go!" Dom shouted and the man scurried away closing the door behind him._

_The music began anew and as soon as it was obvious the crowd had gone back to their festivities, she jumped up from the couch and slapped him. "That was for kissing me! How could you deceive me like that? How could I have not noticed?"_

"_Ari-" he said ignoring his stinging cheek._

"_I knew something was off about you but I ignored it, like an idiot. Where is my Dom?" she yelled ready to slap him a second time if he didn't answer fast enough. "What have you done with him?"_

_Cobb looked back towards the ballroom. "He was baited to follow Eames posing as you and Arthur was to take him out so I could take his place and bring you home."_

"_Just like that. I'm supposed to go home with you? I have no say?" She began walking around forgetting that she was supposed to be injured._

"_What choice did we have? You certainly didn't act like you were unhappy here. I warned you about this, didn't I? Didn't I tell you how easily you could become fascinated by it but its all hollow, its not reality and eventually it will drive you mad."_

"_I knew what I was doing. I can tell the difference." _

"_Really? You asked me to smile not more than an hour ago because you couldn't. How long have you been using him as your totem? How long have you been sleeping with it."_

"_That is none of your business," she snapped._

"_Yes, it is. You're using my likeness. Its definitely my business." He said getting in her face._

"_You know, I don't have to answer any of your questions." She said and began to walk away, embarrassed and humiliated that he'd seen her as she interacted with her own creation. __**'During the whole of dinner and the dancing, that was all him? He played along. What the hell did it mean? Was it all for the job and if not then why the act?'**_

_He grabbed her arm and hauled her back to him, "I want answers and I think I deserve them and you'll come back with us whether you want to or not. It is not an option. I won't leave you here."_

"_If I choose to tell you anything it will not be here and forcing me to do anything against my wishes will prove a lot more difficult that you think. So if you want to talk we need to do it elsewhere." _

"_Lead the way." He said keeping a painfully tight hold of her arm lest she try to make a run for it._

_They exited the ballroom acting like the couple they were supposed to be, past the lobby and to the elevator hub. Once hidden away from her projections inside the elevator, they separated into sullen silence. She pushed the fifth floor button and he mentally filed it away._

_The floor was completely deserted and he wondered whether she had designed it that way to keep her and her shade's privacy. She pulled out her room key and entered leaving the door open but didn't invite him in further._

_She kicked off her shoes and rounded on him. "How long did you think you could lie me? Did you honestly think I wouldn't at some point know the difference between you and my shade?"_

"_Lying to you? Is that what you think I was doing?"_

"_Isn't it? Why else would you have to pretend to be my shade? And why the hell do you still have Mal following you around and don't act like it's not a big deal, because it is."_

"_We…" he backtracked, "I needed a way to get to you, a way that would let me get close enough to see if you really were in danger and if so to show you how to pull away from what you had built. I wanted to prove to myself that you actually were close to losing yourself in this world as Mal had, as I was close to doing, before attempting to extract you out of it."_

"_And Mal?" She asked quietly._

"_Miles says she's helping me. She knows something that I'm suppressing."_

"_You don't know what she knows? How is that possible?"_

"_You tell me," he countered._

"_I have no idea what you're talking about and it doesn't seem to matter what I say since you keep treating me like I'm as lost as she was. I am not Mal and never will be."_

"_I know you aren't. I never said you were. You are so much stronger than her, than me. You have a grasp of limbo that I have never encountered before. You make it do your bidding without really thinking about it and that is what scares me more than anything."_

"_Why? I can control it, you just said it."_

"_Exactly because you can control it. You can make a flawed fiction that plays like a reality and that is the mark of a truly gifted Architect. I told you once that there is a reason architects never go into the jobs unless it's absolutely necessary."_

"_It's why you promised Miles to keep me out." _

_He nodded. "Their abilities can drag down others and trap them. I did that with…"_

"_Stop comparing me to your deranged wife." Ariadne calmly stated. She was trying to listen to his explanations but his continual bringing up of his wife was not helping her be any more receptive to his reasons for deceiving her the way he had. _

"_I'd be foolish to compare you to Mal." _

"_Then stop treating me like I've lost my mind. I don't need you here to keep me sane. I didn't ask you to be here and I certainly didn't want you coming back in for me. What I choose to do here is my business and I don't want you here. This is my dreamscape and you aren't welcome into it."_

"_But he is?" Dom asked towering over her._

"_He is not real. He is a part of me and yes, he is very welcome." She said pushing herself up to her full height. She was not going to be intimated by him. She had plans that wouldn't be completed if he continued in trying to get her out. _

"_He hides things from you."_

"_He does not!" She shouted pushing him back until only his hold on her shoulders kept her from slamming into his chest. He could see that she was concerned by what he was implying about her shade but she shook off his hold. "You have no right to question anything I do in or out of limbo and I will not be going back with you Mr. Cobb."_

"_He hid the fact that he talked to me. He feels different emotions than you do, enough to try to put a bullet in Arthur. He has a purpose that doesn't necessarily coincide with yours anymore. Ariadne, he wants to keep you here. Just like Mal wanted to keep me."_

"_That's not true. All his directives come from me," her voice held none of her earlier conviction and he could see she was cracking under the onslaught of his calm reasoning._

_Dom not willing to give up the advantage he was slowly gaining pushed another more disturbing thought into her mind. "He saw Mal before you did. Why didn't he tell you?"_

"_He had to play along to get rid of Arthur and Eames."_

"_You don't really think that." He said coming closer and letting his frame fill her vision. "Look me in the eye and tell me you believe that."_

_She fiddled with her necklace to keep her eyes away from his not because he was right but because it was getting more and more difficult to fight him the longer they were together. She had loved her shade from the beginning but only because it was patterned after him._

_But now having Dom here with her, Ariadne knew what a weak version of him it was. She knew how vulnerable she was right now and if she let him in, she would become dependent on him. "What I think is not your concern. I don't have to prove anything to you."_

"_Then we are at a standstill and I'm not leaving." He said cupping her face._

_The breath struck in her throat as she tried to reclaim herself from his ocean filled eyes. "Why are you really doing this?" she asked the hitch in her breathing the only thing betraying her topsy turvy emotions. "Is guilt the only reason you are here?"_

"_No. I'm here because I care about you." He replied closing the distance between like he'd done in the airplane and before their relationship had gone to hell because of his inability to see his limitations._

"_I know you do but how do you care?" she said moving her face to the side so that his kiss fell on the very edge of her jaw, though that didn't stop him from placing more on the exposed skin of her neck._

_He paused and looked into her sad brown eyes. "I worry about your wellbeing."_

_She pushed him off her and stepped around him, gaining much needed room to breath and think clearly without him clouding her mind. "How can you stand there and look at me like I'm the only one that exists for you? How can you kiss me and not be able to answer how you feel about us?"_

"_Ask me anything else and I'll answer as honestly as I can."_

"_I don't want to know anything else. I want to know what you feel for me?"_

"_I don't know what I feel for you. It's all jumbled up."_

"_Because of the job or Mal? Is it the worry that you might be making the same mistakes as before?_

"_It's all of it."_

"_Fair enough. So when will you will know? When if not now? When you've had me? When we get out and you pretend nothing happened like in the plane? When you try to forget Mal but can't?"_

"_That's not fair, I'm being honest. Would you rather I lie and tell you what you want to hear?"_

"_You proved my point. I don't need you Dominic. I already have a Cobb that will do everything in his power to protect me. He'll tell me exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it. He'll give me what I desire without any of the baggage you carry around with you." _

_He tried not to be angry, tried not to be jealous. He hadn't meant to get involved in her fantasy and he had and now he was paying the price for it. Everybody had warned him that he was going to hurt himself or her or both if he kept pretending that she wasn't important to him._

_He knew now that he should have not pushed her into this heart shredding talk with him, though exactly who's heart was getting shredded right now was hard to say, until they were out of limbo and in the real world. Where she was safe and he could escape into the lives of his children and the memory of his wife if and when she rejected him._

_They had agreed to let him come with the catch that he'd get the team together as soon as he separated her from her shade. He wasn't supposed to be alone with her, Eames had told him to stick to the plan and not deviate or he'd give into his emotions but he ignored the sound advice and now he was facing the spitfire that had taken residence in his mind since she first invaded it._

_So he faced this beauty that didn't seem to want him but the romanticized flawless version of him. A woman he couldn't or shouldn't want wearing a dress that left little to his imagination, which was quite an accomplishment considering that he'd created worlds with it, in a room that she'd no doubt shared with her aforementioned shade. _

_That alone should have made him carry her out and back down the lobby and to the ocean that awaited their return, not striding to where she stood frozen and pulling her into his arms to remind her that what they had was real._

_She was his and he was hers and he was determined to prove it to her in actions since he couldn't do it in words. He would kiss her until she took back every single one of her words and she saw just how much of his baggage, as she called it, was Ariadne shaped._

_He'd miscalculated her stubbornness and she miscalculated his resolve. "I can't leave without you. I can't leave you here with him. I can't bear how he makes you laugh and what you have with him that you don't with me."_

"_He is you." _

"_No he's not. I haven't gotten to kiss you properly. I haven't calmed you or given you the love you so deserved. I didn't and he did and I can't stand it. I don't want him touching you." He said this last bit with so much force that Ariadne was backed into the wall behind her, "I want to be the only Dominic Cobb to touch you." _

_This embrace was different from all their other ones. It was sure and had none of the hesitation of the one in the airplane. It had all the power of her screaming his name when she fell into that storm and the part of him that was still decent, that was still aware of his responsibilities, begged him to stop._

_He was only there to get her out and give her a chance to remain whole and without another part of him in her mind, his conscience shouted at him. But he hadn't been prepared for her words to ignite his desire to prove her wrong._

_His hands should not be running down the fine line of her spine. They shouldn't be traveling underneath the straps and covering the firm breasts barely concealed from his gaze. She shouldn't be lifted onto his waist and curling her surprisingly strong legs around it._

_But what he should and shouldn't be doing was no match for what had been building up for so long, the tension that had begun when he first asked her to make him a maze. _

_He couldn't stop himself from exploring her mouth or caressing the skin of her back anymore than he could stop her from tugging the jacket off his shoulders._

_He swept aside the decorations on the table closest to them and swiftly grasped her and set her down on her beaded covered bottom. If she was surprised she didn't show it and she certainly didn't mind as she immediately went about undoing the buttons of his shirt while staying glued to his mouth._

_Urged on by her response, he quickly shrugged out of his shirt and dumped it on the nearby couch. __His hand left her back and glided under the strap of her dress and lowered it down her shoulder until his mouth could cover up what he touched earlier. _

_She leaned back and his blonde head dipped below her neck as his kisses traveled from her throat and down the front of her body.__Her hands gripped his hair tighter and his name came out in breathy moans that spurred him to continue exploring the essence of her._

_His tongue expertly lapped and swirled around each breast and she struggled with his belt in a lust-induced haze to get her hips closer to the hardness pushing against the smooth material of his pants. The belt came undone and pooled beside his shirt, jacket and her stockings on the couch._

"_This doesn't change anything." She said turning his face to look at her. "You have to trust me."_

_He pressed a kiss to her forehead then one to her nose and finally her mouth. "I always have."_

"What is this place?" Eames asked touching the dark paneling.

"It was our house. Our dream house." Mal replied stepping out of the elevator and into the corridor. "Though this is a new addition," she said indicating a bay window.

Dom, Arthur and Eames crowded around her and saw a balcony that overlooked the streets of Paris.

"Why are you here?" Mal asked Dom, her eyes on the dark gleaming peak of the city's famous monument. "She won't leave. Not yet. She's running away from you."

"Ignore her, where is Ariadne?" Arthur asked.

"Check the elevator. She has a very similar designing style, doesn't she, Dom." Cobb nodded. "You'll find her down there," she said directing the two men back to the elevator.

Eames and Arthur got in and closed the rusting gate. "How far down?"

"All the way darling." Mal produced a gun and shot both in the chest.

"Mal!" Cobb shouted as the two men fell lifeless to the ground.

"We need to talk. You want to save her, then come or she dies down here and up there." Dom stood torn between following his still apparently murderous wife and looking after his group. "Fine. Don't follow and we'll see how far you get without my help."

Mal walked into the direction of their kitchen leaving Dom alone. He looked behind him but there was no need. The bodies were gone. Eames and Arthur should now be waking up in Stephen's university dream.

He walked into the room weary of what she could be planning but without whatever information she had, he'd be risking that much more. "Do sit. I have much to say."

He pulled a chair and sat. Same as before she grabbed his hands and leaned so close that their foreheads practically touched. "I didn't lie. She does have many similarities to you. I can see the attraction. She builds like you and pushes herself like you do. She is however not in denial like you."

"No more games."

"All right I'll speak plainly then. She knows that she loves you and will do whatever its required of her to get you free of me and of this place. She wants you to dream again but more importantly she wants you to build with her."

"Why? Why does it matter to her if I build or not?"

She touched his face tenderly but he pulled away same as before. Rebuffed Mal drove the symbolic knife home, "she wants you to be free so she can be free of you. You scare her with your tragic desire to be loved, with your compulsion to please those that will never appreciate what you can do. She can never build again until she has thrown off your shadow."

"How could you know that? You aren't her."

"I can pick up emotions same as her shade. It's why it detests you. Its why its gotten so much freedom and been able to get some of her love for itself. He doesn't scare her; he is safe and will never hurt her not like you. It is everything you aren't and never will be. You can't save her!"

"I have to try."

"She already has you!" Mal cried and real tears fell down her face.

"I love her."

"No you don't. You want her because she's different but it won't last."

"Mal, please understand. I have to do this."

"No. I won't let you."

"You won't have to." Ariadne said from the doorway.

"We need to go, Ari. Now." Cobb said from behind her.

"Go on. I'll be right there." He gave her a kiss and disappeared past the veranda where Fischer had waited once and down a staircase to the city streets.

"Ariadne put the gun down. Let me help you." Dom said approaching her carefully.

"Did you mean it?" she asked staying just out of reach of his hands while advancing closer and closer to where her shade had gone.

"Mean what?" he asked.

"You love me. Did you mean it?"

"Ari…"

"Answer me Cobb. Answer honestly. Just once."

Dom hadn't counted on his little Ari being stubborn and demanding a straight answer from a man that lied for a living, he should have but he hadn't. So he snapped and told her what he'd been unwilling to confess to himself. "I care for you in every way possible. In every way that is wrong and have no right feeling considering the hell I've dragged you through."

"It's a simple question. Why can't you answer it?" she said tears in her eyes. "Is it so difficult for you to see a life with me up there? It is so unimaginable?"

"I can't offer you anything."

"I'm asking for a fucking chance, Cobb. One chance to see if we work not for a goddamm marriage."

"I can't give you a chance." He said ignoring the one outstretched hand on his chest and the other pressing the gun to his stomach. "I'll never let you go if I give you a chance."

"I don't want you to let go ever but that's what you fear isn't it? That I'll want to marry you and you'll agree. That's why you keep pushing me away." The gun shook but she kept a hold of it.

"Congratulations. You've figured out what he buried deep in his mind, the reason I'm still here. He'll always compare you to me. I'll always stand in your way. You will never have him, not the way you want him. You might as well keep to your little friend."

"Shut up, Mal!"

"As you wish darling but you know I'm right."

He could feel Ariadne's grip on his shirt loosen but he had to tell her the truth, had to explain what Mal was talking about. "I knew that Mal and Arthur had been having an affair all along. I knew but I didn't care. I loved her so much that I was willing to pretend that it everything was okay."

"Dominic...don't do this."

"I knew and when she asked me to stop dreaming I was willing to because she asked but I wanted one last adventure. One last dream to last me a lifetime."

"You didn't know. How could you have known what it would lead to?" She couldn't help coming to his defense despite what Mal had just revealed.

His fingers curled around her wrist but the gun remained against his gut. "I knew. Stephen and I talked about it. Speculated about undiscovered dream space. He said we should try it and we did, I didn't tell Mal the dangers. I wanted to punish her for her betrayal, for taking away my love of dreams. For making me choose while she couldn't remain loyal."

"You killed me?" Mal asked her face awash in misery.

"Yes. I didn't realize it would be for real. I wanted her to die just once down there. I wanted her to feel the same agonizing pain I'd been hiding for years. I can't let you be tainted by that. I will destroy you, Ariadne. I destroy everything I care about. I can't help it." He looked down at her hand, her small delicate hand still holding a gun.

The same hand that a few hours ago had been buried in his hair as he moved against her.

"I can help you and I will but you have to trust me." She said and shot him.

He fell backwards and she opened the door. "What are you doing?"

"Please go," she shouted.

"I told you she couldn't be saved." Mal said cradling his head on her lap. "I'll stay with you darling."

"I know." He said and passed on.

Ariadne made it to the city street and was just about to cross when Arthur grabbed her from behind. "I told you that you were coming with us, whether you liked it or not." Arthur shot her and she slipped out of his arms and was gone.

"Did you do it?" Eames asked noticing the blank look on the Pointman's face. Arthur nodded and escorted them to the bridge. "See you up top."

**Level 3 - Stephen's Dream  
**

The school campus was deserted when they got there and both Eames and Arthur pushed on the timer. "Can you end it sooner?"

"We'll have to, the others have gone on ahead."

**Level 2 - Saito's Dream  
**

Saito was pacing back and forth on his terrace. "She's here," Cobb said.

"Excellent. I hope you enjoyed my home."

Cobb smiled and bowed. Saito did the same and jumped straight onto the rocks. "Will he survive?" Mal asked looking down at the crashing waves.

"No."

"Then you've done what you had to do. She won't thank you for it." Stephen said coming up behind them. "She might hate you the rest of her life."

"Better than her living in misery with me." He responded and the pagoda crumbled beneath them.

**Level 1 - Yusuf's Dream  
**

He shot up from the bed and fell onto the floor on all fours. "Are you okay? Eames was concerned since you went on ahead of schedule."

"It wasn't by choice, Yusuf. Are the others here?"

"Yes and we have a problem."

As soon as they stepped out of the building both men ducked as a hail of bullets sprayed over them. Cobb lifted his head and saw that the wall behind him had been peppered indiscriminately.

"What the hell is going on?" he yelled over the gunfire.

"It appears Miss Ariadne is not going without a fight." Yusuf pointed at Ariadne struggling to get out of Arthur's grasp.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she shouted and succeeded in lifting herself so high up in Arthur's grip that they toppled and she was able to punch him in the stomach hard enough to get him to release her. Cobb got up to follow but he had to keep ducking as more gunfire erupted over his head.

He saw her hailing a cab and immediately recognized the driver. It began to rain and he looked for Eames and the rest of the group. "Dominic get in," Stephen said opening the door of a nearby car.

"I can't. I have to stop her." He shouted and took off running in the direction of the cab. Eames and Saito had her pinned and she was crawling to the taxi idling at the curb. Her military fighters turned and fired with extreme prejudice and Eames and Saito had to drop to the ground behind their vehicles giving her time to slip in to waiting car.

"Ariadne!"

She paused and in that second everything stopped. The bullets froze in midair, Eames and Saito remained on the ground, Arthur was up and had a scope trained on her driver. Yusuf was perched against another car, assault riffle half cocked and Miles was still leaning out of the car his hand outstretched to Cobb.

But Cobb and Ariadne were not still. Cobb was still walking to Ariadne and Ariadne was standing with one leg in the car while the rest of her stood holding onto the door like a bird about to take flight. "Come back," he implored.

"I can't…"

"Ariadne…" came the same voice from inside the car. "It's up to you, my love."

She shook her head and the voice grew silent. "I have to go, Cobb."

Cobb took another step and she pressed closer to the car. For every step he took, she folded more and more of herself into the waiting vehicle. "Don't."

"I have to." She said, closed the door and locked it.

He pounded on the glass and she pressed her hand to the window. "I won't lose myself. I promise."

"Stay with me." He shouted desperation leaking into his voice but Ariadne just covered her ears and the other Cobb put the car into drive.

"GO!" she screamed as a shower of glass exploded into the car.

"We're talking heavy fire. I need a way out."

"Why is he doing this?" she shouted over the bullets and rain pouring into the car.

"He loves you. I told you he did." The shade responded. He spun the car around but he was stopped by another car plowing into him.

The back window of that taxi was broken and Eames appeared at it. "Hi sweetheart. Sorry about this."

"Get us out of here!" She screamed at the shade. He complied and put the car in reverse but Arthur and Eames followed with Cobb pulling up the rear. Her militia pulled up beside her and began blocking the intersections with their cars to give them time.

Arthur plowed through them and kept chasing.

"He's not going to give up," her shade said swerving to avoid Eames' deadly accuracy.

"I'll make him give up."

A train suddenly came barreling out of a side alley that had no been there a few seconds ago and Arthur slammed on the breaks just in time to avoid being splattered onto the side of it.

"That was close."

"Yes it was."

Arthur turned off the car disbelieving that the woman they were chasing was the same one that had gone into Limbo to save Fischer. "What the fuck was that?" Arthur yelled.

"Well at least you stopped in time. Be grateful for the small things."

"Grateful? She tried to kill us with a fucking train!"

"But she didn't. So be grateful although from the thundercloud on Cobb's face, perhaps we would have been better off if she had succeeded."

Cobb got out of the car at the same time as Arthur and Eames but the Forger moved out of Cobb's line of fire. "What the hell was that?"

"That was me avoiding becoming part of that train." Arthur answered sarcastically.

"You lost her, this is all your fault." Cobb said shouting right into Arthur's face.

"My fault? Are you kidding me? You slept with her; you let her believe something that couldn't be true. You are so full of guilt and denial about what you feel for her that you can't see straight. If it's anybody's fault its yours so get the hell out of my face."

Eames moved to intervene but Stephen stopped him, "this has been a long time coming. You need to let them sort it out themselves."

"I don't give a shit what you want, you are just as big a part of this as I am. If you hadn't been screwing around with my wife behind my back, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so messed up, did you think about that?" Cobb said shoving Arthur against the car. "All you had to do was be my friend."

"I was your friend. I kept your marriage together. I made sure you never saw divorce papers. I made sure that Mal gave you a second chance."

Cobb slammed Arthur against the car and braced his arm across Arthur's windpipe. "I know all about that. Scott was my friend too and he told me all your dirty secrets so don't pretend to me that you're so squeaky clean. I know for a fact that Mal despite all her talk would never have left the children even if it meant putting up with me the rest of her life and you know it."

"You only think you know everything."

"You know what I don't care about what you've hidden from me or what went on. I do however care about that girl, I care that you are trying to use her to make up for what happened between you and Mal and I'm not going to let you." Cobb said cutting off more air.

"Hypocrite," Arthur wheezed. "You did the same thing when you bedded her in this place. She is a woman who doesn't need or want your help and you can't stand that."

"Cobb let him go, he's suffocating." Yusuf said pulling on the Extractor's arm.

"I don't care, he'll only end up in the real world anyway."

"Dominic. Arthur has been a great friend. He has been there for you through everything. I don't agree with happened between Mal and him but it's in the past. Keep it there; it can't hurt you if you leave it behind. Arthur is your friend, he always has been and you'll need him if you plan to come back." Stephen put a hand on Cobb's forearm and the younger man let go of his friend.

"We will get her back." Eames said helping Arthur off the floor.

"You don't deserve her." Arthur rasped.

Cobb turned and looked at him. "Neither do you."

"I know that, do you?" The point man responded.

Cobb gave no answer and they took the last kick to the surface. The group awoke with their bodies stiff and minds full. "How long until I can go back under?"

"I'm sorry."

"How long until I can go back under?" Cobb asked.

"It will be at least a few days to stabilize the effects of the chemicals on your body…"

"How long?"

"Three days." Eames said. "It will be three days otherwise your mind will be turned to mush."

"Fine. Three days. If I don't succeed then, I will keep going back, no matter how long it takes. I will get her out." Cobb said getting up gingerly to sit at her bedside. He smoothed down the hair around her face and bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth. "I'll get you out."

The room was quiet as they took in the strange and tender display from the usually private Cobb.

"You'll have to take turn with the others, alone you'll die. You can't keep going under." Yusuf protested.

"Yes I can." Cobb replied.


End file.
